charm
noun · verb
Simple meaning
The ability to persuade, delight or arouse admiration.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
chahrmIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈtʃɑɹm
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
often in the plural
The ability to persuade, delight or arouse admiration.
An object, act or words believed to have magic power (usually carries a positive connotation).
A small trinket on a bracelet or chain, etc., traditionally supposed to confer luck upon the wearer.
The collective noun for a group of goldfinches.
A flock, group (especially of finches).
The mixed sound of many voices, especially of birds or children.
verb
transitive
To use a magical charm upon; to subdue, control, or summon by incantation or supernatural influence; to ensorcel or exert a magical effect on.
To seduce, persuade or fascinate someone or something.
To protect with, or make invulnerable by, spells, charms, or supernatural influences.
To subdue or overcome by some secret power, or by that which gives pleasure; to allay; to soothe.
Protect through supernatural powers or charms
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The ability to persuade, delight or arouse admiration.
Used this way, charm is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly warm, approving pull. It carries more force than its gentler alternatives. It turns up most in personal or emotional discussion and literature or storytelling contexts.
- Emotional tone
- Positive
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Strong
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Warm and admiring
- Usage feel
- Everyday but emotionally strong
Where it naturally appears
- Personal/emotional discussion
- Literature/storytelling
Usage note
Charm is emotionally heavy: it suggests deep or lasting feeling, not a passing mood, so it can overstate a small reaction.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use charm
- “She charmed him into giving her all his money.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
Someone with an assured and ingratiating manner.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A campaign of flattery and friendliness (by a company, politician, etc.) to become more popular and gain support.
A quark with an electric charge of +2/3 and a mass 2900 times that of an electron and a charm of +1.
Something believed to bring good luck.
A suitor who fulfills the dreams of his beloved.
A performer who uses movements and music to control snakes.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.