beholden

Valid in Scrabble

Scrabble points
14
Words With Friends
16
Letters
8
Pronunciation
/bɪˈhəʊldən/
See all 3 pronunciations
/bɪˈhəʊldən/ · /bɪˈhoʊldən/ · /bɪˈhəʉldən/

Definition of beholden

1 sense · 1 part of speech · etymology included

adj

  1. (not-comparable, usually)Obligated to provide, display, or do something for another; indebted, obliged for a bounden duty.
    “From an early age, I had decided I wanted to be beholden to no one.”
    “But musical ancestry aside, the influence to which [Justin] Bieber is most beholden is the current trends in pop music, which means Believe is loaded up with EDM accouterments, seeking a comfortable middle ground where Bieber’s impressively refined pop-R&B croon can rub up on techno blasts and garish dubstep drops (and occasionally grind on some AutoTune, not necessarily because it needs it, but because a certain amount of robo-voice is expected these days).”
    “There is much to dislike about the proposed constitution, which will keep elected governments beholden to a senate nominated by the junta and to a suite of meddling committees.”

Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

Etymology

From Middle English biholden (“beholden, obligated”), past participle of biholden (“to behold, look at”, modern behold), though that verb does not mean "to bind, obligate".

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