Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

black magic

American  

noun

  1. magic used for evil purposes; witchcraft; sorcery (white magic ).

black magic British  

noun

  1. magic used for evil purposes by invoking the power of the devil

"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

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.

“It was like magic the first time we sang together. Like some black magic voodoo sort of vibes,” Evan added.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 28, 2026

“Could it be a genie, could be black magic? We’ll never know.”

From Seattle Times • Aug. 15, 2023

"In Blackwood it might have been thought of as black magic, but to those who knew and understood, wireless telegraphy was the internet of its day."

From BBC • May 21, 2023

Bardugo’s first novel for adults, “Ninth House,” imagined that the secret societies of Yale were hubs of black magic, and followed a ghost-seeing student named Alex as she navigates those worlds.

From New York Times • Dec. 29, 2022

So that was the way Set started—Set the god of evil and black magic.

From "The Egypt Game" by Zilpha Keatley Snyder

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.