witch 1 of 2

noun

ˈwich How to pronounce witch (audio)
Definition of witchnext
1
as in sorcerer
a woman believed to have often harmful supernatural powers the 17th-century house had once belonged to a woman who was hanged as a witch

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2
as in hag
a mean or ugly old woman a foul-tempered old witch who is constantly at odds with her neighbors

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3
as in mage
a person skilled in using supernatural forces freakish storms that were once thought to be the work of witches

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witch

2 of 2

verb

archaic
as in to charm
to attract or delight as if by magic the woman did witch me with her gentle smile

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of witch
Noun
The oak processionary caterpillar, as it is known in English, is a squiggle of dark skin covered in wiry white hairs that look like the whiskers on a witch’s warts. — Ben Crair, New Yorker, 31 July 2026 Vintage illustration of a Halloween witch and black cat on a broom, flying over a small town at night (chromolithograph), 1908. — Caroline Reilly, Forbes.com, 31 July 2026
Verb
Finally, today is triple witching with equity options, futures and futures options all set to expire. — Jj Kinahan, Forbes.com, 19 Sep. 2025 And also that people have used four branches of witch hazel as the vining rods or witching sticks to find water. — Steve Bender, Southern Living, 27 Aug. 2025 See All Example Sentences for witch
Recent Examples of Synonyms for witch
  1. sorcerer
  2. hag
  3. mage
  4. charm
  5. sorceress
  6. magician
  7. fascinate
  8. wizard
Noun
  • The woods could be hiding places of witches and sorcerers, disguised as the old and feeble, but capable of summoning wonder and terrors, charms as well as curses.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 30 July 2026
  • The sequence featuring Circe, the sorcerer who turns Odysseus’s men into pigs, might be the most disturbing of them all, not so much for what’s shown as for what’s implied, as the men’s body-horror-like transformations occur in tight shots.
    — Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 16 July 2026
Definition of sorcerer
Noun
  • Pinned beneath her rotting legs in his recliner chair, Loftis narrowly escapes by yanking its lever, catapulting the hag over his head.
    — Tessa Solomon, ARTnews.com, 15 July 2026
  • They're also known as hag moth caterpillars.
    — Samantha Johnson, Martha Stewart, 20 June 2026
Definition of hag
Noun
  • This young adult fantasy follows a 16-year-old who discovers a magical attack and realizes this new world of demons and mages has a connection to her mother’s death.
    — Clare Mulroy, USA Today, 2 July 2026
  • Or this one, where the mage Nic Cage totes Herman Hesse’s Siddhartha.
    — Brittany Allen, Literary Hub, 25 June 2026
Definition of mage
Verb
  • Everyone is giggling about his vocabulary, but they’re still charmed.
    — Selome Hailu, Variety, 4 Aug. 2026
  • Robert Schwartzman charmed in The Princess Diaries as Michael Moscovitz, Lilly’s shy, hipster older brother, who plays in a band and has a crush on Mia.
    — Madeline Boardman, Entertainment Weekly, 3 Aug. 2026
Definition of charm
Noun
  • Nobody makes more of their limited screentime than Samantha Morton as the sorceress Circe in one of the film’s most powerful sequences.
    — ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 1 Aug. 2026
  • Odysseus escapes the attack aboard his lone remaining ship, sailing on to the island of the sorceress Circe.
    — Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 26 July 2026
Definition of sorceress
Noun
  • Whether magicians, thieves, or just fed up citizens, somebody has made an entire city’s worth of ALPRs vanish in the night.
    — Joe Wilkins, Futurism, 5 Aug. 2026
  • Elizebeth Berkley poses with America’s Got Talent winner and magician Mat Franco at the Linq Hotel after his show in Las Vegas on July 21.
    — Stephanie Sengwe, PEOPLE, 29 July 2026
Definition of magician
Verb
  • Wuest was also fascinated by the themes explored by the film, and couldn’t help but notice parallels to our current moment.
    — Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 5 Aug. 2026
  • The ongoing sagas of Getz and Hoyer, two executives who got their jobs the old-school Chicago way — with no bothersome hiring searches conducted by their bosses — are ones that continue to fascinate me.
    — Paul Sullivan, Chicago Tribune, 4 Aug. 2026
Definition of fascinate
Noun
  • Food and drink Chefs Loice Acom and Gad Hafashimana are wizards in the Kibale Lodge kitchen.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 27 July 2026
  • Balloons float above an exploding castle, a giant peeks from behind the bushes and wizards throw flames in the foreground.
    — Phillip Molnar, San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 July 2026
Definition of wizard

Browse Nearby Words

wit
witch
witchcraft
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Cite this Entry

“Witch.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/witch. Accessed 9 Aug. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on witch

Nglish: Translation of witch for Spanish Speakers

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about witch

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