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Glite Dictionary
to keep captive

to keep captive

2 6.7
Hold someone's full attention so they cannot think of anything else
  • phrasal verb
: mantener cautivo
  • The magician's performance kept captive the children, who couldn't take their eyes off the tricks.

Examples

  • The speaker's passion and storytelling kept captive the entire audience for over an hour.

  • Her haunting voice kept captive everyone in the room until the last note faded away.

  • As the thunderstorm raged outside, the old novel kept captive my imagination.

  • The movie will keep captive all the viewers!

  • This book keeps captive my attention from start to finish.

  • Her fascinating story kept captive the audience, leaving them eager for more.

  • The documentary's stunning visuals kept captive viewers, drawing them into the world it portrayed.

Synonyms

to occupy
vsto keep captive
32 3.5

To keep someone's mind or attention busy

demands complete attention leaving no capacity for other tasks
to hold
vsto keep captive
26 2.2

To keep someone's attention

creates total attention preventing thought of any other matter
to capture attention
vsto keep captive
23 3.2

To attract and keep people's interest

creates complete absorption that stops attention to other things
to rivet
vsto keep captive
22 6.1

To hold someone's full attention because something is very interesting or surprising

creates total focus so the person cannot think of anything else
to enthrall
vsto keep captive
5 6.8

To hold someone's full attention by being very interesting

results in single minded focus preventing attention to anything else
to keep someone hooked
vsto keep captive
  • Informal
4 4.6

Make someone want to keep watching or reading

makes a person unable to focus on anything else
to arrest
vsto keep captive
2 5.1

To catch and hold someone's attention

produces full absorption leaving no room for other thoughts

Antonyms

to release
∞ 1.8

To let someone or something go free from being held

to distract
451 2.1

To make someone stop paying attention to what they are doing or thinking about

How Engaging

to enthrall
5 6.8
to keep captive
2 6.7
to engage
39 3.5
to interest
189 1.0

Surface Forms

keep captive infinitive
keeping captive present participle
keeps captive third person singular
kept captive past
kept captive past participle

Morphology

keep + captive

The sense 'to hold someone’s complete attention' follows directly from composing 'keep' (to retain) with 'captive' (in a captive/held state); the construction 'keep + adjective' is a regular, compositional pattern. Both the literal (hold as a prisoner) and the figurative (hold attention) readings are predictable from the constituents, so a B1 learner who knows the words would likely infer the meaning.

Etymology

The phrase keep captive comes from the image of keep and captive together: holding someone like a prisoner who cannot leave. So, when a story or voice keeps captive an audience, it 'holds their full attention' and they cannot focus on anything else.