Define Captivating
"Captivating" has slightly different definitions depending on whether you use it as verb or an adjective. In all usages, "captivating" relates to attracting and holding someone's attention.
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Verb
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According to "The American Heritage College Dictionary," to captivate is to "attract and hold by charm, beauty or excellence." To say that someone or something is captivating means that that person or thing is attracting you for a sustained period of time.
Adjective
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Use "captivating" as an adjective to describe a person, place or thing that is captivating your attention. According to Encarta World English Dictionary, the adjective form of captivating is synonymous with "charming, attractive, appealing, fascinating, enchanting, charismatic and entrancing."
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Examples
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Use "captivating" as a verb to say things like, "Maine has been captivating me every summer I have visited since 2006." Use "captivating" as an adjective to say things like, "I have always found Maine to be captivating" or "There is no place more captivating than Acadia National Park in Maine."
Latin Roots
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The Latin word "captivus," which means "prisoner," is the root of the word. This meaning is represented in our English word, "captive." Although "captivating" once meant "to capture" or "to take prisoner," its modern usage is not about imprisonment, but about attraction.
History
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The word "captivate" entered English usage around 1526. By 1621, English-speakers were commonly using "captivated" to describe the verb in the past tense, and by 1675, they were using "captivating" as an auxiliary verb. It wasn't until 1754 that "captivating" was popularly used as an adjective.
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