charmed life


An existence that seems protected by extreme good luck, as in Robert came out of that accident without a scratch; he must lead a charmed life. The adjective charmed once meant “magical,” which is no doubt what Shakespeare had in mind when he used the term in Macbeth (5:8): “Let fall thy blade on vulnerable crests, I bear a charmed life, which must not yield To one of woman born.” Later it was extended to anyone who narrowly escaped from danger or was similarly lucky. [Late 1500s]

Words Nearby charmed life

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

How to use charmed life in a sentence

  • But he seemed to have a charmed life, and, though he plunged into the thick of the fight, he was not even wounded.

    Napoleon's Young Neighbor | Helen Leah Reed
  • You thought you bore a charmed life; you thought nothing could kill you.

    Frank Merriwell's Pursuit | Burt L. Standish
  • That fish must either bear a charmed life, or else it's ball-proof!

    Left on Labrador | Charles Asbury Stephens
  • Once I left him for dead in the Great Woods, but he seemed to have a charmed life and escaped.

  • "He must bear a charmed life, or he would have been killed the night he jumped from the New London special," said Frank.

    Frank Merriwell's Races | Burt L. Standish