Advertisement - Continue reading below

Definition of "beholden" []

  • Owing something, such as gratitude, to another; indebted. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "beholden" in a sentence
  • "Until these issues are addressed, the U.S. economy will remain beholden to Wall Street's bonus-crazed whims."
  • "As of Boxing Day, more than 100,000 people had signed up online for his campaign to fill India's jails with protestors who feel that a bill currently before Parliament will create a toothless ombudsman or lokpal in Hindi beholden to the very politicians it's meant to police."
  • "So, in a sentence like: 'Me and Jenny went to the market', technically you wouldn't have to say 'Jenny and I went to the market', as is common prescriptive usage, because the 'and' forms a compound subject phrase beholden only to itself."