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witch

noun · verb

Simple meaning

A person who uses magical or similar supernatural powers to influence or predict events.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

wich
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈwɪtʃ

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. A person (now usually particularly a woman) who uses magical or similar supernatural powers to influence or predict events.

  2. A woman who follows Wicca or similar New Age pagan beliefs.

  3. An ugly evil-looking old woman

  4. A believer in Wicca

  5. One who exercises more-than-common power of attraction; a charming or bewitching person.

  6. One given to mischief, especially a woman or child.

verb

  1. transitive

    To bewitch.

  2. intransitive

    To dowse for water.

Word at a Glance

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

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: A person (now usually particularly a woman) who uses magical or similar supernatural powers to influence or predict events.

Used this way, witch is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use witch

  • “The children dressed as a friendly witch for the Halloween party.”

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

witch doctorwitch hazelwater witchwitch huntingwicked witchsea witchgood witcheuropean witch

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Similar Words, What’s the Difference?

Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.

Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • witch grassnounCompound term

    North American grass with slender brushy panicles.

  • witch hazelnounCompound term

    Any of several shrubs or trees of the genus Hamamelis.

  • witch-hazel familynounCompound term

    Comprises genera Hamamelis, Corylopsis, Fothergilla, Liquidambar, Parrotia, and other small genera.

  • witch hazel plantnounCompound term

    Any of several shrubs or trees of the genus Hamamelis.

  • witch-huntnounCompound term

    Searching out and harassing dissenters.

  • witch-hunternounCompound term

    Someone who identifies and punishes people for their opinions.

Related words

Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.

  • witches' sabbathnounRelated term

    A midnight meeting of witches to practice witchcraft and sorcery.

Related Words

Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

noun

Sense: person (now usually particularly a woman) who uses magical

enchantress

verb

Sense: to bewitch

glamour

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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.