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

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Last year, the city launched an exclusive advertising project with WOW Media to expand the number of kiosks that provide transportation information, along with ads, to a captive audience sitting in traffic. Jeff Nguyen, CBS News, 11 Aug. 2026 Built for the Experience Economy The business reality of resort retail is that having a captive audience doesn’t guarantee a shopping audience. Kate Hardcastle, Forbes.com, 10 Aug. 2026 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 See All Example Sentences for captive audience

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Captive audience.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/captive%20audience. Accessed 24 Aug. 2026.

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!