hypnotic
adjective · noun
Simple meaning
Related to a state that resembles sleep but that is induced by suggestion.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
hihpnahtikSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
hɪpˈnɑtɪk
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
Capturing a person's attention to the exclusion of all else, as if placing them into a trance.
Of or relating to hypnosis or hypnotism.
pharmacology
Inducing sleep; soporific.
noun
A person who is, or can be, hypnotized.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced (estimated)
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Formality
- Technical
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Capturing a person's attention to the exclusion of all else, as if placing them into a trance.
Used this way, hypnotic is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
A person who induces hypnosis.
Induce hypnosis in.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A trance induced by the use of hypnosis.
A sedative that depresses activity of the central nervous system and reduces anxiety and induces sleep.
A sedative that depresses activity of the central nervous system and reduces anxiety and induces sleep.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
Selective amnesia after being in a hypnotic state of events occurring during hypnosis or of information designated by the hypnotist.
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Words can change meaning depending on context.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.