bewitch
Americanverb (used with object)
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bewitches,
present (3rd person singular)
-
bewitched,
past participle, past
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bewitching
present participle
verb (used without object)
-
bewitches,
present (3rd person singular)
-
bewitched,
past participle, past
-
bewitching
present participle
verb
-
to attract and fascinate; enchant
-
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
-
had bewitchedperfect
-
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:
Unlike Godard, he doesn’t try to bewitch you with theory.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2025
Well, when there are people available to bewitch.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 5, 2022
Webster’s neighbors accused her of witchcraft in 1683, when she was around 60 years old, claiming she worked with the devil to bewitch local livestock.
From Salon ● Oct. 24, 2019
Self-possessed and unflappable, he radiates serenity even as he brutally trounces his competition, a kind of soothing confidence that seems to bewitch even Trebek.
From Slate ● May 29, 2019
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
Orange wines may seem trendy, like a hipster fashion that bewitches bargoers from London to Tokyo.
From New York Times ● May 7, 2020
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
No one easily "ruffled" can keep a clear eye on the ball, and exasperation at "lost balls" seemingly bewitches successive ones into disappearing with the completeness and finality of puffs of smoke.
From Etiquette by Emily Post
As Ashim pokes through her things—a Penguin edition of new American plays, records by Joan Baez and the Rolling Stones—he finds himself increasingly bewitched.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026
But Mozart’s genius obliterates Salieri’s limited talent so utterly that the elder musician is bewitched by it.
From Salon ● May 16, 2026
In Episode 1, the bewitched Agatha peers into what appears to be a child’s room in her house.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2024
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
A house bewitched, carved out of the dark woods.
From "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier
Released in June, the group’s fourth album, “Escrito en Agua,” is a bohemian tour de force — a bewitching combination of freestyle poetry, menacing Krautrock, melancholy shades of jazz and post-rock.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
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
In another context, the size, style and theme of Ms. Kiwanga’s work would make it bewitching.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 1, 2026
They also interact with particles in the upper atmosphere to create the bewitching veils of light known as the auroras.
From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
