captive audience

noun

: a person or people who are unable to leave a place and are thus forced to listen to what is being said
The passengers on the plane were a captive audience.

Examples of captive audience in a Sentence

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And like other mediums, Kynard notes that comedians seek to elicit reactions from a captive audience. — Sergy Odiduro, Miami Herald, 21 July 2026 This dessert has found viral success on TikTok, where there are countless videos of shoppers trying the cake for a captive audience. — Carly Westerfield, Bon Appetit Magazine, 21 July 2026 The business model was the captive audience, advertising at a known hour, and a finite catalog of programming. — Brandon Metcalf, Forbes.com, 17 July 2026 Like United, Waymo has a captive audience. — Rakesh Agrawal, PC Magazine, 28 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for captive audience

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captive
captive audience
captive bolt
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Cite this Entry

“Captive audience.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/captive%20audience. Accessed 5 Aug. 2026.

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