MEANING
To hold someone's attention through charm, interest, or appeal.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- captivate an audience
- captivate the imagination
On the page
The opening scene captivated her despite the train's constant interruptions.
Nearby words
Word forms
- Base
- captivate
- Past tense
- captivated
- Past participle
- captivated
- Present participle
- captivating
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- captivate
- Present continuous
- am/is/are captivating
- Present perfect
- have/has captivated
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been captivating
- Past
- captivated
- Past continuous
- was/were captivating
- Past perfect
- had captivated
- Past perfect continuous
- had been captivating
- Future
- will captivate
- Future continuous
- will be captivating
- Future perfect
- will have captivated
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been captivating
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Primary category: literary / elevated general. Forms: captivate; captivates; captivated; captivated; captivating Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Commonness: moderately common. Third-person singular: captivates.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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