Definition of 'fascinate'
Word forms: 3rd person singular present tense fascinates
, present participle fascinating
, past tense, past participle fascinated
verb
If something fascinates you, it interests and delights you so much that your thoughts tend to concentrate on it.
Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Video: pronunciation of
fascinate
British English pronunciation
American English pronunciation
Word Frequency
fascinate in British English
verb (mainly tr)
▶ USAGE A person can be fascinated by or with another person or thing. It is correct to speak of someone's fascination with a person or thing; one can also say a person or thing has a fascination for someoneCollins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Derived forms
fascination (ˌfasciˈnation) noun
fascinative (ˈfascinative)
adjective
Word origin
C16: from Latin fascināre, from fascinum a bewitching
Word Frequency
fascinate in American English
verb transitiveWord forms: ˈfasciˌnated or ˈfasciˌnating
3.
SIMILAR WORDS: atˈtract
Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
Derived forms
fascinatingly (ˈfasciˌnatingly)
adverb
Word origin
< L fascinatus, pp. of fascinare, to bewitch, charm < fascinum, a charm < ? or akin to Gr baskanos, sorcerer
Word Frequency
fascinate in American English
(ˈfæsəˌneit) (verb -nated, -nating)
transitive verb
SYNONYMS 1. bewitch, enchant, spellbind, charm.1.
to attract and hold attentively by a unique power, personal charm, unusual nature, or some other special quality; enthrall
a vivacity that fascinated the audience
2.
to arouse the interest or curiosity of; allure
3.
The sight of the snake fascinated the rabbit
4. obsolete
to bewitch
Most material © 2005, 1997, 1991 by Penguin Random House LLC. Modified entries © 2019
by Penguin Random House LLC and HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Derived forms
fascinatedly adverb
fascinative
adjective
Word origin
[1590–1600; ‹ L fascinātus, ptp. of fascināre to bewitch, cast a spell on, v. deriv. of fascinum evil spell, bewitchment]Examples of 'fascinate' in a sentence
fascinate
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In other languages
fascinate
British English: fascinate
VERB /ˈfæsɪneɪt/
If something fascinates you, it interests and delights you so much that your thoughts tend to concentrate on it.
Politics fascinated his father.
- American English: fascinate /ˈfæsɪneɪt/
- Brazilian Portuguese: fascinar
- Chinese: 使着迷
- European Spanish: fascinar
- French: fasciner
- German: faszinieren
- Italian: affascinare
- Japanese: 魅惑する
- Korean: 매혹시키다
- European Portuguese: fascinar
- Latin American Spanish: fascinar
- Thai: ทำให้หลงใหล, ทำให้ติดใจ
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