beholden
adjective
Did you know?
To behold something is to perceive or gaze upon it—therefore, to be beholden is to be seen or observed, right? Not so fast! It’s true that behold and beholden share the same Old English roots, and also that beholden originated as the past participle of behold, whose original meaning was “to hold or retain.” But the two words weaved and wended their way down different paths into present-day English. Behold had settled into its “perceive, see” use by the 12th century. Meanwhile, beholden was called into duty as the “indebted, obligated” adjective we know today by the 14th century, as evidenced by its appearance in the Middle-English poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. In the ensuing years, beholden has continued to describe people who are obligated to others (often for a favor or gift), as well as people or things that are in figurative debt due to aid or inspiration, as in “many contemporary books and films are beholden to old Arthurian legends.”
Examples of beholden in a Sentence
Geoffrey Bunting, Rolling Stone, 5 Oct. 2024
The growing reliance on federal Medicaid-expansion dollars creates a dangerous cycle in which states become increasingly beholden ...
—Gary D. Alexander, National Review, 22 Dec. 2024
Already inclined to listen to Tehran, Damascus has now become thoroughly beholden.
—Reuel Marc Gerecht, Foreign Affairs, 7 Sep. 2023
Apologizing for playing a part in your feeling so beholden.
—Carolyn Hax, Washington Post, 24 Jan. 2024
See All Example Sentences for beholden
Cite this Entry
“Beholden.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/beholden. Accessed 28 May. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
beholden
adjective
Share