charm

¹

[chahrm]

noun

1. a power of pleasing or attracting, as through personality or beauty: the charm of a mountain lake.

   charm of manner;

   the charm of a mountain lake.

   Synonyms: allurement, attractiveness

2. a trait or feature imparting this power.

3. charms, attractiveness.

4. a trinket to be worn on a bracelet, necklace, etc.

   Synonyms: bauble

5. something worn or carried on one's person for its supposed magical effect; amulet.

   Synonyms: talisman

6. any action supposed to have magical power.

   Synonyms: spell, enchantment

7. the chanting or recitation of a magic verse or formula.

8. a verse or formula credited with magical power.

   Synonyms: spell

9. Physics.,  a quantum number assigned the value +1 for one kind of quark, −1 for its antiquark, and 0 for all other quarks. C

verb (used with object)

1. to delight or please greatly by beauty, attractiveness, etc.; enchant.

   She charmed us with her grace.

   Synonyms: bewitch, allure, ravish, enrapture, entrance, captivate, fascinate

2. to act upon (someone or something) with or as with a compelling or magical force.

   to charm a bird from a tree.

3. to endow with or protect by supernatural powers.

4. to gain or influence through personal charm.

   He charmed a raise out of his boss.

verb (used without object)

1. to be fascinating or pleasing.

2. to use charms.

3. to act as a charm.

charm

²

[chahrm]

noun

British Dialect.

1. blended singing of birds, children, etc.

charm

¹

/ tʃɑːm /

noun

1. the quality of pleasing, fascinating, or attracting people

2. a pleasing or attractive feature

3. a small object worn or kept for supposed magical powers of protection; amulet; talisman

4. a trinket worn on a bracelet

5. a magic spell; enchantment

6. a formula or action used in casting such a spell

7. physics an internal quantum number of certain elementary particles, used to explain some scattering experiments

8. perfectly; successfully

verb

1. to attract or fascinate; delight greatly

2. to cast a magic spell on

3. to protect, influence, or heal, supposedly by magic

4. (tr) to influence or obtain by personal charm

   he charmed them into believing him

charm

²

/ tʃɑːm /

noun

1. dialect,  a loud noise, as of a number of people chattering or of birds singing

charm

1. One of the flavors of quarks, contributing to the charm number—a quantum number—for hadrons.

2. A charmed particle is a particle that contains at least one charmed quark or charmed antiquark. The charmed quark was hypothesized to account for the longevity of the J/psi particle and to explain differences in the behavior of leptons and hadrons.

3. See more at flavor

Other Word Forms

• charmedly adverb
• charmer noun
• charmless adjective
• charmlessly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of charm¹

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English charme “magical verse or incantation,” from Old French, from Latin carmen “song, magical formula,” from unattested canmen (by dissimilation), equivalent to can(ere) “to sing” + -men noun suffix

Origin of charm²

First recorded in 1520–30 as cherme, dialect variant of chirm “noise, din,” perhaps associated with charm ¹ ( def. ) (in the sense “chanting of a magic verse”)

Word History and Origins

Origin of charm¹

C13: from Old French charme, from Latin carmen song, incantation, from canere to sing

Origin of charm²

C16: variant of _chirm

Idioms and Phrases

• (charm the) pants off
• work like a charm

Example Sentences

The contradiction of her career is that the things we in the audience loved about her — the breezy humor, the self-deprecating charm, the iconic threads — were Keaton’s attempts to mask her own insecurities.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

There are many scenes where Robinson abandons his jittery schtick to allow Ron’s frustration and hangdog fatigue with his life to guide them, anchoring the absurdity in Robinson’s naturalistic charm.

Read more on Salon

In her delightfully written new memoir, “Joyride” — personal stories with a bit of writing advice — she admits that charming people into reading about esoteric subjects is essential to her work.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Her portrayal of the feisty, eccentric, charming title character would define Keaton as an actor for the rest of her career.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The company’s executives went on a charm offensive last year.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• attract 
• beguile 
• bewitch 
• cajole 
• captivate 
• delight 
• enamor 
• enrapture 
• enthrall 
• fascinate 
• hypnotize 
• mesmerize 
• please 
• tickle 
• wow