Verb

To attract one's attention as if by a magic spell.

Verb

(captivat)

To attract and hold interest and attention of; charm.

* Washington Irving

small landscapes of captivating loveliness

*, chapter=3

, title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=One saint's day in mid-term a certain newly appointed suffragan-bishop came to the school chapel, and there preached on “The Inner Life.”  He at once secured attention by his informal method, and when presently the coughing of Jarvis […] interrupted the sermon, he altogether captivated his audience with a remark about cough lozenges being cheap and easily procurable.}}

(obsolete) To take prisoner; to capture; to subdue.

* Shakespeare

Their woes whom fortune captivates .

* Glanvill

'Tis a greater credit to know the ways of captivating Nature, and making her subserve our purposes, than to have learned all the intrigues of policy.