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Synonyms

charm

1 American  
[chahrm] / tʃɑrm /

noun

  1. a power of pleasing or attracting, as through personality or beauty: the charm of a mountain lake.

    charm of manner;

    the charm of a mountain lake.
    Synonyms:
    allurement, attractiveness

  2. a trait or feature imparting this power.

  3. charms, attractiveness.

  4. a trinket to be worn on a bracelet, necklace, etc.

    Synonyms:
    bauble

  5. something worn or carried on one's person for its supposed magical effect; amulet.

    Synonyms:
    talisman

  6. any action supposed to have magical power.

    Synonyms:
    spell, enchantment

  7. the chanting or recitation of a magic verse or formula.

  8. a verse or formula credited with magical power.

    Synonyms:
    spell

  9. Physics. a quantum number assigned the value +1 for one kind of quark, −1 for its antiquark, and 0 for all other quarks. C

verb (used with object)

  1. to delight or please greatly by beauty, attractiveness, etc.; enchant.

    She charmed us with her grace.
    Synonyms:
    bewitch, allure, ravish, enrapture, entrance, captivate, fascinate

  2. to act upon (someone or something) with or as with a compelling or magical force.

    to charm a bird from a tree.

  3. to endow with or protect by supernatural powers.

  4. to gain or influence through personal charm.

    He charmed a raise out of his boss.

verb (used without object)

  1. to be fascinating or pleasing.

  2. to use charms.

  3. to act as a charm.

charm 2 American  
[chahrm] / tʃɑrm /

noun

British Dialect.

  1. blended singing of birds, children, etc.

charm 1 British  
/ tʃɑːm /

noun

  1. dialect a loud noise, as of a number of people chattering or of birds singing

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
charm 2 British  
/ tʃɑːm /

noun

  1. the quality of pleasing, fascinating, or attracting people

  2. a pleasing or attractive feature

  3. a small object worn or kept for supposed magical powers of protection; amulet; talisman

  4. a trinket worn on a bracelet

  5. a magic spell; enchantment

  6. a formula or action used in casting such a spell

  7. physics an internal quantum number of certain elementary particles, used to explain some scattering experiments

  8. perfectly; successfully

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

  1. to attract or fascinate; delight greatly

  2. to cast a magic spell on

  3. to protect, influence, or heal, supposedly by magic

  4. (tr) to influence or obtain by personal charm

    he charmed them into believing him
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
charm Scientific  
/ chärm /

  1. One of the flavors of quarks, contributing to the charm number—a quantum number—for hadrons.

  2. A charmed particle is a particle that contains at least one charmed quark or charmed antiquark. The charmed quark was hypothesized to account for the longevity of the J/psi particle and to explain differences in the behavior of leptons and hadrons.

  3. See more at flavor

charm Idioms  

    More idioms and phrases containing charm

Other Word Forms

  • charmedly adverb
  • charmer noun
  • charmless adjective
  • charmlessly adverb

Etymology

Origin of charm1

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English charme “magical verse or incantation,” from Old French, from Latin carmen “song, magical formula,” from unattested canmen (by dissimilation), equivalent to can(ere) “to sing” + -men noun suffix

Origin of charm2

First recorded in 1520–30 as cherme, dialect variant of chirm “noise, din,” perhaps associated with charm 1 ( def. ) (in the sense “chanting of a magic verse”)

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

We were welcomed in with full Texas charm.

From Salon • Mar. 31, 2026

Mr. Konishi’s poignant debut—translated from the Japanese by Louise Heal Kawai—combines golden-age charm with the harsh reality of having a loved one with dementia.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 27, 2026

The result: Pedretti in Alloway’s instant cult classic is a laugh-out-loud-funny unending well of charm, packing humor into even her most routine dialogue.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 25, 2026

Power enjoyed Weekend Update especially, with news anchors Ania Magliano and Paddy Young "full of charm, as they side-eyed the camera and struggled to keep straight faces".

From BBC • Mar. 22, 2026

She had a way of calming things down with that Aphrodite charm of hers.

From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.