a person, especially a woman, who professes or is supposed to practice magic or sorcery; a sorceress.
This novel was about a meek businessman marrying a beautiful witch who uses her magic to help him succeed in business.
a woman who is supposed to have evil or wicked magical powers.
The movie features stereotypical witches in black robes and pointed hats.
a person who practices magic as a spiritual observance, especially as associated with neopaganism or Wicca.
She became a witch after an interest in tarot and astrology led her to classes at a local mystic shop.
an ugly or mean old woman; hag.
She was constantly in conflict with the old witch who used to own the building.
a person who uses a divining rod; dowser.
They hired a water witch to find the best location for the new well.
to bring or cause by or as if by witchcraft (often followed by into, to, etc.).
She witched him into going.
Archaic. to affect as if by witchcraft; bewitch; charm.
historically, in mythology and fiction, a woman believed to practise magic or sorcery, esp black magic
a practitioner of a Nature-based religion founded on ancient beliefs, which honours both a male and female divine principle and includes the practice of magic, esp healing magic, and divination
informal an ugly or wicked woman
a fascinating or enchanting woman
short for water witch
(tr) to cause or change by or as if by witchcraft
a less common word for bewitch
First recorded before 900; Middle English wicche, Old English wicce, feminine of wicca “wizard”; cf. wicked
A witch is a person with magical powers. Most towns have a spooky old woman with a lot of cats who all the neighborhood kids suspect of being a witch. The classic picture of a witch is a woman dressed in black with a tall, pointy hat, a broom, and an ugly face — this kind of witch is a popular Halloween costume. Another kind of witch is a serious believer in the religion called Wicca. The word witch is also used to describe someone who's old and unattractive — or, conversely, a young enchantress, a girl capable of bewitching a man.
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In Granite: So many gawkers visited the abandoned house used in the climactic ending of “The Blair Witch Project” that the state eventually demolished the structure, saying it was too unsafe.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 16, 2026
The 1939 movie shows Dorothy melting the Wicked Witch by dousing her in water.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 24, 2025
Songs like “No Good Deed” and “March of the Witch Hunters” are chopped up and rearranged to allow for more dialogue and less emoting, distending the film into a bloated heap.
From Salon • Nov. 21, 2025
A partnership between Moyse's Hall Museum in Bury St Edmunds and the Salem Witch Museum in the US aims to further explore the connections.
From BBC • Oct. 27, 2025
"Catch it then, you idiots!" screamed The Grand High Witch from up on the platform.
From "The Witches" by Roald Dahl
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.
