fas·ci·nate

(făs′ə-nāt′)

v. fas·ci·nat·ed, fas·ci·nat·ing, fas·ci·nates

v.tr.

1. To capture and hold the interest and attention of. See Synonyms at charm.

2. Archaic To deprive of the ability to escape or move, usually by the power of a look. Used of serpents.

3. Obsolete To bewitch.

v.intr.

To capture and hold someone's interest and attention.

[Latin fascināre, fascināt-, to cast a spell on, from fascinum, an evil spell, a phallic-shaped amulet.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

fascinated

(ˈfæsɪneɪtɪd)

adj

attracted and delighted

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

fascinated

If you are fascinated by something or fascinated with it, you find it very interesting.

He was fascinated by films as a child.

He became fascinated with their whole way of life.

You can also say that you are fascinated by a person.

At first Rita was fascinated by him.

You do not use words such as 'very' or 'extremely' in front of fascinated. If you find something very interesting indeed, you can say that you are absolutely fascinated or deeply fascinated by it.

Dr Shaw had been absolutely fascinated by a print on her wall.

He was deeply fascinated by war.

Collins COBUILD English Usage © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 2004, 2011, 2012

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Adj.

fascinated - having your attention fixated as though by a spell

hypnotised, hypnotized, mesmerised, mesmerized, spellbound, spell-bound, transfixed

enchanted - influenced as by charms or incantations

fascinated

adjective entranced, charmed, absorbed, very interested, captivated, hooked on, enthralled, beguiled, smitten, bewitched, engrossed, spellbound, infatuated, hypnotized, under a spell I sat on the stairs and watched, fascinated.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

Translations

fascinated

[ˈfæsɪneɪtɪd] ADJ → fascinado
to be fascinated with sth → estar fascinado por algo

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

fascinated

[ˈfæsɪneɪtɪd] adj [person] (by sight, spectacle) → fasciné(e)
to be fascinated by sth/sb → être fasciné(e) par qch/qn
As a child I was fascinated by history
BUT Quand j'étais petit l'histoire me fascinait.
to be fascinated with sb/sth → être fasciné(e) par qn/qch

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

These would, perhaps, have fascinated any boy, but I had such a fanaticism for methodical verse that any variation from the octosyllabic and decasyllabic couplets was painful to me.

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"Yes, and he says that Fairfax--I think it's Fairfax--is equally fascinated with ME."

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I hope that Dorian Gray will make this girl his wife, passionately adore her for six months, and then suddenly become fascinated by some one else.

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Children stopping before the cage are fascinated, men turn away with an air of disgust, and women linger for a moment, trying per- haps to remember which one of their male acquain- tances the thing in some faint way resembles.

Half frightened and yet fascinated by the light burning in the eyes of the hideous old man, George Willard listened, afire with curiosity.

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Adventures, of course, as we shall see, were of daily occurrence; but about this time Peter invented, with Wendy's help, a new game that fascinated him enormously, until he suddenly had no more interest in it, which, as you have been told, was what always happened with his games.

At the Gulch, when victory was still in the balance, sometimes leaning this way and sometimes that, he called out, "I'm redskin to-day; what are you, Tootles?" And Tootles answered, "Redskin; what are you, Nibs?" and Nibs said, "Redskin; what are you Twin?" and so on; and they were all redskins; and of course this would have ended the fight had not the real redskins fascinated by Peter's methods, agreed to be lost boys for that once, and so at it they all went again, more fiercely than ever.

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She is a foolish, good-natured little woman, who thinks herself clever because her husband has permitted her to travel a good deal, and has evidently been rather fascinated by the latitudinarianism of continental society.

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They had not intended to spend the afternoon, but found themselves too fascinated to turn away from the breakers bursting upon the rocks and from the many kinds of colorful sea life starfish, crabs, mussels, sea anemones, and, once, in a rock-pool, a small devilfish that chilled their blood when it cast the hooded net of its body around the small crabs they tossed to it.

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There stood Miss Rachel at the table, like a person fascinated, with the Colonel's unlucky Diamond in her hand.

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I never ceased to be fascinated by their persistence in eating buttered toast with their gloves on, and I observed with admiration the unconcern with which they wiped their fingers on their chair when they thought no one was looking.

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The former magician, with a cry of joy, sprang to his feet, looked at himself in wonder, and then fell back in his chair and watched the Wizard with fascinated interest.

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