mesmeric

UK/mɛzˈmɛɹɪk/US/mɛzˈmɛɹɪk/

adjectiveC2Very rare — outside the 30,000 commonest English words, so you will meet it in writing rather than in speechneutral

Mesmeric means holding the attention completely, as if by a spell. A mesmeric performance.

It comes from Franz Mesmer, who claimed to heal by a magnetic force nobody could find. Mesmeric is now used of anything you cannot look away from, including very bad television.

Definitions of mesmeric

1adjectivemesmericHolding the attention completely, as if by a spell.C2
“The mesmeric rhythm carried the whole second half.”

mesmeric is a quality.

Also accepted in games: mesmerizing

← Vocabulary

mesmeric

UK/mɛzˈmɛɹɪk/US/mɛzˈmɛɹɪk/

adjectiveC2Very rare — outside the 30,000 commonest English words, so you will meet it in writing rather than in speechneutral

Mesmeric means holding the attention completely, as if by a spell. A mesmeric performance.

It comes from Franz Mesmer, who claimed to heal by a magnetic force nobody could find. Mesmeric is now used of anything you cannot look away from, including very bad television.

Definitions of mesmeric

1adjectivemesmericHolding the attention completely, as if by a spell.C2
“The mesmeric rhythm carried the whole second half.”

mesmeric is a quality.

Also accepted in games: mesmerizing