sympathetic magic
noun
: magic based on the assumption that a person or thing can be supernaturally affected through its name or an object representing it
Examples of sympathetic magic in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
This type of mimicry is also known as sympathetic magic.
—
Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 21 May 2025
Driven by a belief in sympathetic magic, some physicians would treat a tumor by placing a live crab on top of it.
—George Johnson, Discover Magazine, 30 July 2013
Until this point, sympathetic magic had been a term psychologists used to account for magical belief systems in traditional cultures, such as hunter-gatherer societies.
—New York Times, 27 Dec. 2021
There is a kind of sympathetic magic at work—because Biden transcends the darkness of grief, America can, through him, transcend the darkness of the history that has produced Trump.
—Fintan O’Toole, The New York Review of Books, 26 Aug. 2020
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Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 21 May 2025
Driven by a belief in sympathetic magic, some physicians would treat a tumor by placing a live crab on top of it.
—George Johnson, Discover Magazine, 30 July 2013
Until this point, sympathetic magic had been a term psychologists used to account for magical belief systems in traditional cultures, such as hunter-gatherer societies.
—New York Times, 27 Dec. 2021
There is a kind of sympathetic magic at work—because Biden transcends the darkness of grief, America can, through him, transcend the darkness of the history that has produced Trump.
—Fintan O’Toole, The New York Review of Books, 26 Aug. 2020
Cite this Entry
“Sympathetic magic.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sympathetic%20magic. Accessed 31 Jul. 2025.
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