magician
Americannoun
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magicians
plural
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an entertainer who is skilled in producing illusion by sleight of hand, deceptive devices, etc.; conjurer.
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a person who is skilled in magic; sorcerer.
- Synonyms:
- wizard, enchanter, necromancer
noun
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another term for conjuror
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a person who practises magic
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a person who has extraordinary skill, influence, or qualities
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of magician
1350–1400; magic + -ian; replacing Middle English magicien < Middle French
Explanation
A magician does magic tricks. You might hire a magician to pull rabbits out of hats and do card tricks at your next birthday party. A performer whose specialty is sleight-of-hand and other illusions is one kind of magician. Another magician is the kind who makes real magic, casting spells and summoning spirits. More people believe in the first kind of magician — who is simply pretending to do magic — than the second. The word stems from the Old French magiciien, "magician or sorcerer," which is rooted in the Greek word for "magical," magikos.
Vocabulary lists containing magician
2015 National Spelling Bee Words
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Magical Vocabulary
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Suffixes: -an
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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:
Put another way, Dolly Parton was a magician who never stopped telling you how she did the trick.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
Lonj said it reminded him of a stunt performed by magician David Blaine decades ago, in which Blaine stayed suspended inside a glass box for more than a month above London’s River Thames.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2026
Trading mystery for certainty, this exhibition transforms Klee from sorcerer and magician into just another self-referential sociopolitical artist.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
Teenage magician Rafferty Coope, from Hampshire, came fifth after also making it to the last round.
From BBC ● May 31, 2026
The woman is a magician with clothing, the papers say.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
Without a library, I would not have purchased every cookbook, obscure DVD and book about secretive magicians that caught my eye.
From Salon ● Sep. 6, 2026
This time out, the original Four Horsemen -- who first appeared on screen in 2013 -- are joined by three younger magicians: Ariana Greenblatt, Dominic Sessa and Justice Smith.
From Barron's ● Nov. 16, 2025
After the young magicians put on an elaborate show and heist in which nothing is as it seems, especially if it seems interesting, the Horsemen from the previous movies show up with some notes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 13, 2025
The arachnologist has named species after celebrities, musicians, photographers and even magicians.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 2, 2025
“Some magicians believe that the Night Brothers created their own spell book—something called the Black Book. Supposedly the most powerful spells a magician can wield. Vladimir was probably the strongest weaver the world’s ever seen.”
From "Amari and the Night Brothers" by B.B. Alston
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.
