beholden
Valid in Scrabble
- Scrabble points
- 14
- Words With Friends
- 16
- Letters
- 8
/bɪˈhəʊldən/
See all 3 pronunciations Show less
/bɪˈhəʊldən/ · /bɪˈhoʊldən/ · /bɪˈhəʉldən/
Definition of beholden
1 sense · 1 part of speech · etymology included
adj
-
(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".
Words you can make from beholden
111 playable · top: BEHELD (12 pts)
Best play beheld 12 points6-letter words
6 words5-letter words
16 words4-letter words
35 words- HEED 8 pts
- HELD 8 pts
- HOED 8 pts
- HOLD 8 pts
- OHED 8 pts
- BEND 7 pts
- BLED 7 pts
- BODE 7 pts
- BOLD 7 pts
- BOND 7 pts
- DOBE 7 pts
- HEEL 7 pts
- HELO 7 pts
- HOLE 7 pts
- HONE 7 pts
- BEEN 6 pts
- BENE 6 pts
- BOLE 6 pts
- BONE 6 pts
- EBON 6 pts
- LOBE 6 pts
- DELE 5 pts
- DENE 5 pts
- DOLE 5 pts
- DONE 5 pts
- LEDE 5 pts
- LEND 5 pts
- LODE 5 pts
- NEED 5 pts
- NODE 5 pts
- OLDE 5 pts
- ENOL 4 pts
- LENO 4 pts
- LONE 4 pts
- NOEL 4 pts
3-letter words
36 words- HOB 8 pts
- DOH 7 pts
- EDH 7 pts
- HOD 7 pts
- BED 6 pts
- BOD 6 pts
- DEB 6 pts
- HEN 6 pts
- HOE 6 pts
- HON 6 pts
- NOH 6 pts
- BEE 5 pts
- BEL 5 pts
- BEN 5 pts
- LOB 5 pts
- NEB 5 pts
- NOB 5 pts
- OBE 5 pts
- DEE 4 pts
- DEL 4 pts
- DEN 4 pts
- DOE 4 pts
- DOL 4 pts
- DON 4 pts
- ELD 4 pts
- END 4 pts
- LED 4 pts
- NOD 4 pts
- ODE 4 pts
- OLD 4 pts
- EEL 3 pts
- EON 3 pts
- LEE 3 pts
- NEE 3 pts
- OLE 3 pts
- ONE 3 pts
2-letter words
17 wordsFind your best play with beholden
See every word you can make from a set of letters that includes beholden, or browse word lists you can mine for high-scoring plays.