attract

verb

at·​tract ə-ˈtrakt 

attracted; attracting; attracts

transitive verb

: to cause to approach or adhere: such as

a

: to pull to or draw toward oneself or itself

A magnet attracts iron.

b

: to draw by appeal to natural or excited interest, emotion, or aesthetic sense : entice

attract attention

The museum attracts visitors.

intransitive verb

: to exercise attraction

Opposites attract.

attractor

ə-ˈtrak-tər 

noun

Choose the Right Synonym for attract

attract, allure, charm, captivate, fascinate, enchant mean to draw another by exerting a powerful influence.

attract applies to any degree or kind of ability to exert influence over another.

students attracted by the school's locale

allure implies an enticing by what is fair, pleasing, or seductive.

an alluring smile

charm implies the power of casting a spell over the person or thing affected and so compelling a response,

charmed by their hospitality

but it may, like captivate, suggest no more than evoking delight or admiration.

her performances captivated audiences

fascinate suggests a magical influence and tends to stress the ineffectiveness of attempts to resist.

a story that continues to fascinate children

enchant is perhaps the strongest of these terms in stressing the appeal of the agent and the degree of delight evoked in the subject.

hopelessly enchanted by her beauty

Examples of attract in a Sentence

The company has a difficult time attracting good employees because of its poor pay and benefits.

The chance to travel around the world attracted me to a career as a flight attendant.

The museum attracts visitors from all over the world.

The scent will attract certain insects.

Certain insects are attracted by the scent.

Her bright blue eyes attracted me.

The bird's colorful feathers are used to attract a mate.

Recent Examples on the Web

People are still going to be attracted to that collective experience. —Philip Buckingham, New York Times, 5 Jan. 2026

To attract fashion users, Pinterest launched its collage functionality in late 2023, allowing users to pull together outfits from different pins and mood boards, which was a game-changer in both grabbing Gen Z’s attention and training Pinterest’s AI using human taste and curation. —Lucy Maguire, Vogue, 5 Jan. 2026

Visible light communication The team also pointed out that visible light communication (VLC) is attracting increasing attention as an alternative wireless technology that uses light emitted from LEDs to transmit data. —Prabhat Ranjan Mishra, Interesting Engineering, 4 Jan. 2026

In various industry pockets, a small subset of leaders is emerging, offering bold ideas to attract a new generation of wine lovers. —Mike Desimone, Robb Report, 4 Jan. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English attracten, borrowed from Latin attractus, past participle of attrahere "to draw with force, drag toward, compel to come," from ad- ad- + trahere "to drag, draw, take along" — more at abstract entry 1

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Phrases Containing attract

• attract/get someone's attention
• opposites attract

Rhymes for attract

• abstract
• attacked
• contact
• contract
• detract
• distract
• enact
• exact
• extract
• hijacked
• impact
• intact

Kids Definition

attract

verb

at·​tract ə-ˈtrakt 

1

: to pull to or toward oneself or itself

a magnet attracts iron

2

: to draw by appealing to interest or feeling

attract attention

Etymology

Middle English attracten "attract, cause to adhere," derived from Latin attrahere, literally "to draw near," from at-, ad- "to, toward" and trahere "to draw" — related to abstract, trace entry 1, trace entry 3