bewitch

[ bih-wich ]

/ bɪˈwɪtʃ /

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See synonyms for: bewitch / bewitched / bewitching / bewitchery on Thesaurus.com

Definition of bewitch

verb (used with object)

to affect by witchcraft or magic; cast a spell over.

to enchant; charm; fascinate: The painter bewitched the crowd with his latest work.

verb (used without object)

to cause someone to be enchanted; cast a spell over someone: She lost her power to bewitch.

OTHER WORDS FOR bewitch

2 captivate, enrapture, transport.

See synonyms for bewitch on Thesaurus.com

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Origin of bewitch

First recorded in 1175–1225, bewitch is from the Middle English word biwicchen; see be-, witch

OTHER WORDS FROM bewitch

be·witch·er, nounbe·witch·er·y, nounbe·witch·ing·ness, nounbe·witch·ment, noun

Words nearby bewitch

wild about, be, bewilder, bewildered, bewildering, bewilderment, bewitch, bewitched, bewitching, with it, be, worked up, be, bewray

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use bewitch in a sentence

In his new, expanded edition of Influence, he describes seven principles, or levers, that essentially bewitch our rational minds and lead us to comply without a second thought.
How to Get Anyone to Do Anything (Ep. 463)|Stephen J. Dubner|May 27, 2021|Freakonomics
In this episode of the Freakonomics Radio Book Club, he gives a master class in the seven psychological levers that bewitch our rational minds and lead us to buy, behave, or believe without a second thought.
How to Get Anyone to Do Anything (Ep. 463)|Stephen J. Dubner|May 27, 2021|Freakonomics
Two years later, bewitched by the area, he launched the social enterprise that would become his life’s work.
In East Africa, mountain gorillas and a new paradigm for wildlife travel|Henry Wismayer|April 23, 2021|Washington Post
That dramatic night, July 27, 2019, marked the peak of weeks of grasshoppers taking to the air after dark and, like moths bewitched by a porchlight, filling the brightly lit streets of the most intensely illuminated city in the United States.
Weather radar shows 30 metric tons of grasshoppers swarmed Las Vegas one night|Susan Milius|March 30, 2021|Science News

At the beginning of October, 33-year-old Dume, who prefers to use his middle name only, believed he had been bewitched.
East Africa’s Healers Embrace Modern Medicine to Treat Depression|Charu Kasturi|December 8, 2020|Ozy
This charming creature—I tell you she is irresistible—her very oddities bewitch me.
Night and Morning, Complete|Edward Bulwer-Lytton
I've been told that country wizards carve images of their victims, and give them the names of those they'd bewitch.
The Road to Damascus|August Strindberg
Like foxes and badgers, they are able to bewitch human beings.
Myths & Legends of Japan|F. Hadland (Frederick Hadland) Davis
Thou liest; or wilt thou even yet deny that thou didst bewitch old Paasch his little girl with a white roll?
The Amber Witch|Wilhelm Meinhold
But, Baas, those Black Kendah wizards forgot to bewitch him against the little yellow man, of whom they took no account.
The Ivory Child|H. Rider Haggard

British Dictionary definitions for bewitch

bewitch

/ (bɪˈwɪtʃ) /

verb (tr)

to attract and fascinate; enchant

to cast a spell over

Derived forms of bewitch

bewitching, adjectivebewitchingly, adverb

Word Origin for bewitch

C13 bewicchen; see be-, witch

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

bewitch

Definition of bewitch

OTHER WORDS FOR bewitch

Origin of bewitch

OTHER WORDS FROM bewitch

Words nearby bewitch

Words related to bewitch

How to use bewitch in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for bewitch

Derived forms of bewitch

Word Origin for bewitch