occult

¹oc·cult

transitive verb \ə-ˈkəlt, ä-\

Definition of OCCULT

: to shut off from view or exposure : cover, eclipse

— oc·cult·er noun

Examples of OCCULT

1. <occulted their house from prying eyes by planting large trees around it>
2. <the actor's private life had long been occulted by a contrived public persona>

Origin of OCCULT

Latin occultare, frequentative of occulere

First Known Use: 1500

Related to OCCULT

Synonyms

belie, blanket, blot out, cloak, conceal, cover, curtain, disguise, enshroud, mask, obscure, ¹hide, paper over, screen, shroud, suppress, veil

Antonyms

bare, disclose, display, divulge, expose, reveal, show, uncloak, uncover, unmask, unveil

Related Words

bury, camouflage, cover (up), smother; gild, gloss (over), varnish, whitewash; becloud, bedim, befog, block, cloud, darken, eclipse, obstruct, occlude, overcast, overshadow, shade

Near Antonyms

bring out, present; clarify, illuminate; advertise, air, broadcast, get out, proclaim, publicize, publish, spread

Rhymes with OCCULT

adult, consult, exult, incult, indult, insult, penult, result, tumult

²oc·cult

adjective \ə-ˈkəlt, ä-; ˈä-ˌkəlt\

Definition of OCCULT

1

: not revealed : secret

2

: not easily apprehended or understood : abstruse, mysterious

3

: hidden from view : concealed

4

: of or relating to the occult

5

: not manifest or detectable by clinical methods alone <occult carcinoma>; also : not present in macroscopic amounts <occult blood in a stool>

— oc·cult·ly adverb

Examples of OCCULT

1. occult practices such as magic and fortune-telling
2. He began to believe he had occult powers.

Origin of OCCULT

Latin occultus, from past participle of occulere to cover up, from ob- in the way + -culere (akin to celare to conceal) — more at ob-, hell

First Known Use: 1533

Related to OCCULT

Synonyms

arcane, cryptic, deep, enigmatic (also enigmatical), impenetrable, inscrutable, mystic, mysterious, uncanny

Antonyms

accessible, clear, nonambiguous, obvious, plain, unambiguous, unequivocal

Related Words

dark, darkling, fuzzy, murky, obscure, shadowy, vague; ambiguous, equivocal; imponderable, incomprehensible, unfathomable, unintelligible, unsearchable; inexplicable, unaccountable, unexplainable; unanswerable, unknowable; metaphysical, mystical, numinous, supernatural; abstruse, esoteric, recondite; baffling, befuddling, bewildering, confounding, confusing, disorienting, mystifying, perplexing, puzzling

Near Antonyms

fathomable, intelligible, understandable; apparent, clear, evident, manifest, obvious, open-and-shut, palpable, patent, perspicuous, plain, straightforward, transparent, unambiguous, unequivocal, unmistakable

³occult

noun \same as ²\

Definition of OCCULT

: matters regarded as involving the action or influence of supernatural or supernormal powers or some secret knowledge of them —used with the

First Known Use of OCCULT

1923

Other Occult Terms

augury, censor, invocation, lucidity, metempsychosis, mojo, numinous, preternatural, weird, wraith

oc·cult

adjective \ə-ˈkəlt, ˈäk-ˌəlt\   (Medical Dictionary)

Medical Definition of OCCULT

: not manifest or detectable by clinical methods alone <occult carcinoma>; also : not present in macroscopic amounts <occult blood in a stool specimen> <fecal occult blood testing>—compare gross 1b