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occult

noun · adjective · verb

Simple meaning

Magic and mystical practices or beliefs.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

uhkuhlt

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IPA pronunciation (US)

əˈkʌlt

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.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. usually with "the"

    Supernatural affairs.

  2. Supernatural forces and events and beings collectively

  3. Supernatural practices and techniques

    “He is a student of the occult.”

adjective

  1. medicine

    Secret; hidden from general knowledge; undetected.

  2. Esoteric.

  3. Related to the occult; pertaining to mysticism, magic, or astrology.

verb

  1. Become concealed or hidden from view or have its light extinguished

    “The beam of light occults every so often.”

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
Frequency
Moderately Common
Typical Use
Neutral / general English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

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How It’s Used

The word’s distinct uses, one example each.

  • Supernaturalnoun

    “He is a student of the occult.”

  • Becomeverb

    “The beam of light occults every so often.”

More ways to use occult

  • “He is a student of the occult.”noun
  • “The beam of light occults every so often.”verb
  • “The lids were occulting her eyes.”verb

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Secret

occult artsoccult scienceoccult knowledge

Related

fecal occult

Cause

occult blood

Other combinations

some occultoccult poweroccult philosophy

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • occult artsnounCompound term

    Supernatural practices and techniques.

  • fecal occult testnounCompound term

    A test performed at home in which you collect specimens of your stool that are tested for traces of blood.

  • faecal occult testnounCompound term

    A test performed at home in which you collect specimens of your stool that are tested for traces of blood.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

noun

Sense: supernatural affairs

adjective

Sense: secret

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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.