beholden

English

WOTD – 10 February 2016

Alternative forms

• beholding (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English beholden, from Old English behealdan. Cognate with behold in the otherwise unrecorded sense “bound”.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /bɪˈhəʊldən/
• (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /bɪˈhoʊldən/
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /bɪˈhəʉldən/

  • Audio (Queensland):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊldən
• Hyphenation: be‧hol‧den

Adjective

beholden (not comparable)

1. (usually with 'to') Obligated to provide, display, or do something for another; indebted, obliged.

   From an early age, I had decided I wanted to be beholden to no one.

   • 2012 June 26, Genevieve Koski, “Music: Reviews: Justin Bieber: Believe”, in The A.V. Club‎^[1], archived from the original on 6 August 2020:

     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).

   • 2017 January 14, “Thailand's new king rejects the army's proposed constitution”, in The Economist‎^[2]:

     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.

Derived terms

• beholdenness
• unbeholden

Translations

obligated, bound by moral obligation

• Bulgarian: задължен (bg) (zadǎlžen), признателен (bg) (priznatelen)
• Dutch: verplicht (nl), schatplichtig (nl)
• French: redevable (fr)
• German: verpflichtet (de), gebunden (de)
• Hindi: बाध्य (hi) (bādhya)
• Russian: обя́занный (ru) m (objázannyj), призна́тельный (ru) m (priznátelʹnyj)
• Spanish: comprometido (es), obligado (es), endeudado (es), encalillado (es), adeudante