bewitch
Americanverb (used with object)
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bewitches,
present (3rd person singular)
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bewitched,
past participle, past
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bewitching
present participle
verb (used without object)
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bewitches,
present (3rd person singular)
-
bewitched,
past participle, past
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bewitching
present participle
verb
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to attract and fascinate; enchant
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to cast a spell over
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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bewitchernoun
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bewitcherynoun
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bewitchingnessnoun
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bewitchmentnoun
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bewitchingadjective
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bewitchinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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bewitchsimple
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bewitchessimple
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have bewitchedperfect
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has bewitchedperfect
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am bewitchingprogressive
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are bewitchingprogressive
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is bewitchingprogressive
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have been bewitchingperfect progressive
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has been bewitchingperfect progressive
Past
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bewitchedsimple
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had bewitchedperfect
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was bewitchingprogressive
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were bewitchingprogressive
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had been bewitchingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of bewitch
First recorded in 1175–1225, bewitch is from the Middle English word biwicchen; see be-, witch
Explanation
To bewitch is to cast a spell on someone with witchcraft or to capture their attention in another way. You might bewitch someone with your beauty or with your potion. The choice is yours. The word witch is a big clue to what bewitching means. In a Halloween story, if a witch casts a spell over someone to control them, that's an example of bewitching. Bewitching happens in the real world when something captures your attention or attracts you. A fascinating storyteller bewitches you. When people fall in love, they bewitch one another.
Vocabulary lists containing bewitch
Born a Crime
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"The Flight of Icarus" by Sally Benson
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Merci Suárez Changes Gears
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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.
See Examples For:
Where “Arco” mesmerizes with its less-conventional animation style, “Little Amélie” employs swaths of eye-popping color, broad shapes and thoughtfully rendered two-dimensional art style and camera movements to bewitch slightly younger viewers.
From Salon ● Nov. 5, 2025
Unlike Godard, he doesn’t try to bewitch you with theory.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2025
The prosecution alleged that Phiri and Candunde were hired by a fugitive former MP to bewitch Hichilema.
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2025
Washington, having spurned a crown himself, recognized the siren song that could bewitch even ostensibly democratic leaders, particularly in polities where checks on power are easily subverted.
From Slate ● Feb. 17, 2025
The Creevey brothers had managed to get hold of a stack of Support Cedric Diggory! badges and were trying to bewitch them to make them say Support Harry Potter! instead.
From "Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire" by J. K. Rowling
He has constructed a glossy fever dream that bewitches as much as it befuddles.
From Salon ● May 20, 2022
An Ozark faith healer bewitches two construction engineers.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 8, 2020
Its heroine Seren must battle a vengeful supernatural being that bewitches her adoptive aristocratic Welsh family.
From The Guardian ● Nov. 9, 2019
The garden — also rich in watery pools and jumbo succulents in bright pots — still bewitches with its far-from-the-dusty-medina vibe.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 1, 2019
Thy Book bewitches more than those Who are sworn "Brothers of the Angle."
From Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 105, August 12th 1893 by Various
Studebaker halted Avanti production after only a year; but the design lived on until 2006, with its rights passing through a succession of wildcat coachbuilders too bewitched to help themselves.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2025
Chinese state media said the group had been "bewitched" by criminal organisations and were stranded in Thailand after illegally leaving the country.
From BBC ● Feb. 27, 2025
He said it was she who first bewitched him when he worked as a page in the stacks of the Johns Hopkins University library in Baltimore as an undergraduate.
From New York Times ● Apr. 2, 2024
It’s wired somewhere deep into our caveman brain — we’re bewitched by calamity.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 30, 2023
“I think we are bewitched too,” said Gareth.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
She conjures a bewitching onscreen presence that many of her contemporaries could only dream of, pulling the viewer’s gaze with a single glare from her steely eyes or the quiver of her chin.
From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2026
When Conlon conducts the final performance of the company’s bewitching production of Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” Sunday afternoon that will also mark his last appearance as L.A.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2026
It was expensive, but worth every penny — a beautiful, abstract rendering of the film’s themes, displayed in a bewitching graphic style I couldn’t get out of my mind after coveting the poster online.
From Salon ● Apr. 17, 2026
Advance single “Let Me Grow and You’ll See the Fruit” is bewitching and emotionally resonant, like someone whispering a story into your ear over a beautifully jangly guitar line.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 30, 2025
Same sleek fair hair, same small light build, same quick bewitching features with a faint hint of lunacy behind the bright eyes.
From "Code Name Verity" by Elizabeth Wein
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.
