Word · Frequency #22137
beholden
欠人情的；受惠的；负有义务的
under a moral obligation to someone
- 1.
Obligated to provide, display, or do something for another; indebted, obliged for a bounden duty.
负有义务的；受惠的,感激的。
负有义务的；受惠的,感激的。；负有义务的；受惠的
In use
After they helped me move, I felt beholden to them.
She accepted the job but was careful not to become beholden to her boss.
We are beholden to the volunteers who gave up their weekend.
be beholden to sb
beholden 通常作表语，不放在名词前作定语。
I don't want to be beholden to anyone.
我不想欠任何人的人情。
be beholden to sb for sth
for 后接所欠恩惠的具体内容。
She is beholden to her uncle for his financial support.
她因叔叔的经济支持而欠他一份人情。
feel beholden to sb
feel beholden 强调主观上有亏欠感。
He felt beholden to his mentor.
他觉得自己欠导师的人情。
Common mistakes
I am behold to you for your kindness.I am beholden to you for your kindness.
beholden 是形容词，不要误写成动词 behold（意为“看见”），去掉 -en 会变成另一个词，词性和意思都不对。
I beholden to you for your support.I am beholden to you for your support.
beholden 是形容词，前面必须有系动词 am/is/are 等；中文“我感激你”经常省略“是”，直接照搬会漏掉 be 动词。
She is beholden with you for your help.She is beholden to you for your help.
beholden 表示“欠某人人情”时用固定介词 to 引出受惠对象，不能按中文“对你”直译成 with。
Connections
Collocations
- be beholden to someone
- 欠某人人情；受惠于某人
- She did not want to be beholden to her uncle for paying her tuition.她不想因叔叔替她付学费而欠他人情。
- feel beholden
- 感到亏欠；觉得欠人情
- I feel beholden to repay their kindness.我觉得欠他们一份人情，必须报答他们的好意。
- not beholden to anyone
- 不欠任何人的人情；不受任何人支配
- He answers only to his conscience and is not beholden to anyone.他只对自己的良心负责，不受任何人支配。
- become beholden to
- 开始欠…人情；变得受惠于
- By accepting the loan, she became beholden to a powerful lender.由于接受了这笔贷款，她开始欠一个有权势的放贷人的人情。
- politically beholden
- 在政治上受制于人的；负有政治义务的
- The committee is politically beholden to the mayor.该委员会在政治上受制于市长。
Learner notes
Memory Tip
联想 beholden 为 be+holden（被握住）：被恩情握住，即受惠而负有义务。
Context & Register
语域：formal 常见场景：formal letters、formal speeches、literary texts beholden 属于正式用语，通常用于正式信函、演讲或文学性文本中，表示因受人恩惠而觉得有义务或感激；日常口语中较少使用，改用 grateful 更自然。
Pronunciation & Spelling
No common word exactly rhymes with beholden as given (/biˈhəudən/). The -olden lookalikes olden, golden, and embolden all have /əʊldən/, with an extra /l/, so they are not exact rhymes. Behind and behave share only the unstressed initial /bɪ/ sound; do not judge rhyme from spelling.
Dictionary facts from ECDICT, WIKTIONARY.