beholden to

phrase

formal
: owing a favor or gift to (someone) : having obligations to (someone)
politicians who are beholden to special interest groups
She works for herself, and so is beholden to no one.

Examples of beholden to in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Even in the best-case scenario—OpenAI’s full legal compliance, no violations, a fair exchange—investors are still putting money into a company beholden to public interest obligations its competitors don’t face, governed solely by a nonprofit. — Orson Aguilar, Fortune, 22 July 2026 But such efforts — and many other worthy grantmaker governance policies — will flounder if federal grantmakers become beholden to partisan whim rather than attached to scientific merit. — Doni Bloomfield, STAT, 21 July 2026 In the early 1980s, when the Dialogue was founded, Latin America’s biggest economies — Argentina, Brazil and Mexico — were cash-strapped, debt-ridden and beholden to the IMF. — Larry Luxner, Sun Sentinel, 20 July 2026 Part of what makes barbecue’s third wave unique is that many of its rising stars are not beholden to tradition, says Garate, and thus more easily able to innovate. — Charlie Kolodziej, Bon Appetit Magazine, 1 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for beholden to

Rhymes for beholden to

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Browse Nearby Words

beholden
beholden to
beholder
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Cite this Entry

“Beholden to.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/beholden%20to. Accessed 2 Aug. 2026.

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