Completely fascinated or captivated by something, as if held under a spell.
From Old English 'thrall' meaning slave or bondage, combined with the prefix 'en-' meaning to put into a state. The word evolved from literal enslavement to mean being mentally or emotionally captured by something.
The word perfectly captures how attention works—we talk about being 'thralled' by ideas the same way medieval people described being enslaved, because our brains can genuinely feel held captive by compelling things like books, movies, or mysteries.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.