The marvel of their captivation lay in the spell of the enchanter.
There was a captivation in its promise of adventure that he felt to be irresistible.
He knew that Clare Kenwardine was not the girl to attempt his captivation merely because he had shown himself susceptible.
He still acknowledged that her beauty was the most complete; but he found in Camilla a variety that was captivation.
If all the varied hues of captivation her changing humor wore were but the deep practised lures of coquetry?
Manner is perhaps more seducing than mere beauty; but where they are allied, the captivation is irresistible.
Now Julia L'Estrange was a very pretty girl, and with a captivation of manner which to the young sailor was irresistible.
And he opened his watch-case as he spoke, and displayed a small miniature in enamel, of marvellous beauty and captivation.
She was not, it is true, of the ordinary type of beauty, whose chief ornament is an effort at captivation.
Certainly, he reflected, no preparations were in progress in this quarter for his captivation.
1520s, "to enthrall with charm," from Late Latin captivatus, past participle of captivare "to take, capture," from captivus (see captive). Literal sense (1550s) is rare or obsolete in English, which uses capture (q.v.). Latin captare "to take, hold" also had a transferred sense of "to entice, entrap, allure." Related: Captivated; captivating; captivatingly.