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
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So instead of cruising neighborhoods the way God and nature intended, Rodriguez stalks a captive audience. — Allyson Reedy, Denver Post, 16 Sep. 2026 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 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 14 Oct. 2026.

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