fascinate
fascinate — verb
1. to make someone extremely interested in something, so that they want to keep wat
to make someone extremely interested in something, so that they want to keep watching, listening, or learning more about it — for example, a child fascinated by how ants build tunnels, or a visitor fascinated by the history of an old building.
Hao became fascinated by the way Japanese tea ceremonies blend ritual with everyday life.
passive: be fascinated by [activity]
The documentary about deep-sea creatures fascinated Christopher so much that he watched it twice.
active: [thing] fascinates [person]
Young children are often fascinated by anything that moves quickly or makes a loud noise.
What fascinated Greta most was how the potter shaped clay without using any machines.
Tamar is fascinated by old maps and spends hours studying the trade routes on them.
- bore
to make someone lose interest completely
文法句型
fascinate + person
be fascinated + by/with + noun phrase
what fascinates + person + is …
用法筆記
The adjective forms 'fascinated' (for people experiencing the feeling) and 'fascinating' (for things causing the feeling) are more common in everyday conversation than the bare verb 'fascinate'. For example, 'I was fascinated by her story' is far more natural than 'Her story fascinated me', though both are grammatically correct.
常見錯誤
2. to hold someone's complete attention so powerfully that they stop moving or spea
to hold someone's complete attention so powerfully that they stop moving or speaking, as if they have lost control of their body — for example, a crowd frozen in place while watching a tightrope walker, or a child unable to look away from a street performer.
The audience sat fascinated as the tightrope walker took each slow step across the wire.
sat fascinated: static posture during intense attention
Minho was so fascinated by the dancer's spinning movements that he forgot to blink.
Darius stood motionless, fascinated by a pack of wolves at the edge of the firelight.
Something about the old storyteller's deep voice fascinated the children into complete silence.
文法句型
be fascinated + by + noun phrase
stand / sit / remain + fascinated
fascinate + person + into + result noun
用法筆記
Distinguish from sense 1 (INTEREST GREATLY): sense 2 describes a stronger, more physical reaction — the person is so absorbed that normal body movements (blinking, shifting position, speaking) stop. This sense is more common in literary, descriptive, or dramatic writing than in everyday speech.