adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of charming
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English; charm 1 + -ing 2
Explanation
Something charming is usually pleasing or delightful. More rarely, it can be something supernatural. Charms are magical objects and something charming puts you under its spell. In most cases, we mean that only figuratively — if you spent a charming evening with friends, it means their company was so wonderful it was almost enchanting. Charming people have a special, almost magical way of making others like them. But if you're talking about a charming witch, you better watch out for her sorcery and magic tricks.
Vocabulary lists containing charming
Positive Words to Describe a Person
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Real Nice!
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Positive Words to Describe People, List 1
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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.
“I ain’t sayin’ I was Prince Charming or nothin’.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 30, 2026
Hong Kong-based Charming Medical, a beauty-care company incorporated in the British Virgin Islands, went public at $4 on Oct.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 15, 2025
Every fairytale needs a happy ending, and after 11 albums of love, heartbreak and shattered dreams, Taylor Swift has found her Prince Charming.
From BBC • Aug. 27, 2025
If “Anora” is a cockeyed contemporary reconfiguration of the Cinderella story, then actor Yura Borisov is its Prince Charming.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 23, 2025
“It is the same all the way through. Charming descriptions of mountain goats and ibexes! Blooming edelweiss and cute babies! This is not poetry. Where is the suffering? The torment? The thwarted dreams?”
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
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.
