thrall

[thrawl]

noun

1. a person who is morally or mentally enslaved by some power, influence, or the like.

   He was the thrall of morbid fantasies.

2. a person held in bondage or slavery.

3. slavery; thralldom.

4. the condition of being in the power of something or someone; a state of subjugation or rapt absorption.

   We will receive no help from the media, who are for the most part in thrall to the political establishment.

verb (used with object)

1. Archaic.,  to put or hold in thralldom; enslave.

adjective

1. Archaic.,  subjected to bondage; enslaved.

thrall

/ θrɔːl /

noun

1. Also called: thraldom.  thralldom. the state or condition of being in the power of another person

2. a person who is in such a state

3. a person totally subject to some need, desire, appetite, etc

verb

1. (tr) to enslave or dominate

Other Word Forms

• unthralled adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of thrall¹

First recorded before 950; Middle English thral, thral(l)e, threl(l)e, Old English thrǣl “bondman, slave, servant, thrall,” from Old Norse thrǣll “slave, servant”

Word History and Origins

Origin of thrall¹

Old English thrǣl slave, from Old Norse thrǣll

Example Sentences

Among other things, a customer in thrall to a fraudster will sometimes foil their own bank’s attempts to prevent them from sending money to a criminal.

From Salon

Rightly or wrongly, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seen as in thrall to his far-right colleagues.

From BBC

Our organization, formed last year, is a community for those who are leaving MAGA, those who feel doubts about their support for Trump, and friends and family of those still in the thrall of MAGA.

From Salon

Saxon hopes the audiences watching “The Legend of Ochi” are kept in thrall, wondering.

From Los Angeles Times

The music industry had largely written her off - but in England, where pop was in thrall to American R&B, she still had some heavyweight fans.

From BBC