Synonym Chooser

How is the word captivate different from other verbs like it?

Some common synonyms of captivate are allure, attract, charm, enchant, and fascinate. While all these words mean "to draw another by exerting a powerful influence," charm implies the power of casting a spell over the person or thing affected and so compelling a response, but it may, like captivate, suggest no more than evoking delight or admiration.

charmed by their hospitality
her performances captivated audiences

When can allure be used instead of captivate?

In some situations, the words allure and captivate are roughly equivalent. However, allure implies an enticing by what is fair, pleasing, or seductive.

an alluring smile

When could attract be used to replace captivate?

The meanings of attract and captivate largely overlap; however, attract applies to any degree or kind of ability to exert influence over another.

students attracted by the school's locale

When would enchant be a good substitute for captivate?

While in some cases nearly identical to captivate, 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

When might fascinate be a better fit than captivate?

While the synonyms fascinate and captivate are close in meaning, fascinate suggests a magical influence and tends to stress the ineffectiveness of attempts to resist.

a story that continues to fascinate children

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of captivate But the road to telling that story began with a restless boy in a quiet town, one who found escape not on the water, but in the light of screens both big and small, captivated by Steven Spielberg’s work and the classic soap opera Guiding Light. Jp Mangalindan, Time, 19 June 2025 Many of these beloved products have taken TikTok by storm, captivating audiences with their effectiveness. Kiana Murden, Vogue, 18 June 2025 Stay at a luxe retreat perched high above the captivating cliffs at Cliff House. Jacqueline Dole, Travel + Leisure, 15 June 2025 Footage capturing the alarming moment a glass panel from a cruise ship restaurant suddenly fell onto a pool deck has captivated viewers on social media. Soo Kim, MSNBC Newsweek, 12 June 2025 See All Example Sentences for captivate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for captivate
Verb
  • The writer was fascinated with sharks after spotting them during childhood fishing trips with his father on Nantucket.
    Christopher Rudolph, People.com, 20 June 2025
  • That stuff about the Gunn Mummy fascinates me though.
    Hazlitt, Hazlitt, 18 June 2025
Verb
  • Each tune has its own momentum, with several of them enticing audiences and exciting them for his sophomore album American Heart, which arrives tomorrow (Friday, June 20).
    Hugh McIntyre, Forbes.com, 19 June 2025
  • Netflix may entice its subscribers to chill, but the global streamer is working on new offerings and deals to future-proof its content lineup and business.
    Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 18 June 2025
Verb
  • The screenplay loses its way at the end but kids and adults will be enchanted by the inventive, eccentric characters and the rich animation.
    Randy Myers, Mercury News, 27 June 2025
  • No longer interested in enchanting us, the filmmaker puts his audience through the wringer, and his kick-ass mentality is well-served by star Tom Cruise, who lives for these sorts of full-throttle roles.
    Tim Grierson, Vulture, 20 June 2025
Verb
  • Bo Peep Bo Peep is a flirt who likes to charm the other toys.
    Lisa Stardust, People.com, 18 June 2025
  • In the video, Chelsie Dahl shared her son's nightly ritual that has charmed viewers worldwide.
    Maria Morava, MSNBC Newsweek, 18 June 2025
Verb
  • The sequel has plenty of the same horror-comedy elements that delighted audiences a couple years ago, but there’s also a major action upgrade that resembles the paths that Aliens and Terminator 2: Judgment Day took from their predecessors.
    Brian Davids, HollywoodReporter, 20 June 2025
  • The combination of microservices with edge computing CDNs and micro frontends creates a robust application development framework that enables fast, resilient and scalable applications that delight users while driving business expansion.
    Raju Dandigam, Forbes.com, 20 June 2025
Verb
  • She was also found guilty of disorderly conduct for supposedly trying to seduce an undercover policewoman named Margaret Leonard, who’d been assigned to entrap her.
    Kellie B. Gormly, Smithsonian Magazine, 26 June 2025
  • The first classic of the summer noir genre is no doubt René Clément’s adaptation of the Patricia Highsmith novel The Talented Mr. Ripley about a young American upstart who travels to Italy and murders a wealthy socialite before stealing his identity and seducing his wife.
    Erik Morse, Vogue, 26 June 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Captivate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/captivate. Accessed 3 Jul. 2025.

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