occult
Americanadjective
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of or relating to magic, astrology, or any system claiming use or knowledge of secret or supernatural powers or agencies.
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beyond the range of ordinary knowledge or understanding; mysterious.
- Synonyms:
- supernatural, metaphysical, esoteric, arcane
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secret; disclosed or communicated only to the initiated.
- Synonyms:
- kabbalistic, mystical, veiled, unrevealed
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hidden from view; concealed.
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(in early science)
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not apparent on mere inspection but discoverable by experimentation.
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of a nature not understood, as physical qualities.
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dealing with such qualities; experimental.
occult science.
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Medicine/Medical. present in amounts too small to be visible.
a chemical test to detect occult blood in the stool.
noun
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occults
plural
verb (used with object)
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occults,
present (3rd person singular)
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occulted,
past participle, past
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occulting
present participle
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to block or shut off (an object) from view; hide.
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Astronomy. to hide (a celestial body) by occultation.
verb (used without object)
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occults,
present (3rd person singular)
-
occulted,
past participle, past
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occulting
present participle
adjective
-
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of or characteristic of magical, mystical, or supernatural arts, phenomena, or influences
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( as noun )
the occult
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beyond ordinary human understanding
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secret or esoteric
verb
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astronomy (of a celestial body) to hide (another celestial body) from view by occultation or (of a celestial body) to become hidden by occultation
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to hide or become hidden or shut off from view
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(intr) (of lights, esp in lighthouses) to shut off at regular intervals
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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occultsimple
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occultssimple
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have occultedperfect
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has occultedperfect
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am occultingprogressive
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are occultingprogressive
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is occultingprogressive
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have been occultingperfect progressive
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has been occultingperfect progressive
Past
-
occultedsimple
-
had occultedperfect
-
was occultingprogressive
-
were occultingprogressive
-
had been occultingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of occult
First recorded in 1520–30; from Latin occultus (past participle of occulere “to hide from view, cover up”), equivalent to oc- “to, toward, over” + -cul-, akin to cēlāre “to hide” + -tus past participle suffix; see oc-, conceal
Explanation
Dark and mysterious, the occult is a kind of supernatural power or magic. If you see your neighbor chanting over a giant vat of bubbling brew in the middle of the night, there's a chance he's dabbling in the occult. The word occult has its roots in the Latin occultus, meaning “hidden, secret.” That's why it can also be used as both a noun referring to black magic and an adjective meaning "difficult to see." Quipped the famous physicist Heinz Pagels, “I like to browse in occult bookshops if for no other reason than to refresh my commitment to science.”
Vocabulary lists containing occult
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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:
An independent bookshop which specialises in horror, fantasy, folklore and the occult is trying to raise £20,000 to save it from closing.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
Almost all exorcists, at the urging of the Vatican, keep their identities secret, their role in battling the occult known only to the other priests in their diocese.
From Slate ● Jun. 8, 2026
For those, however, who take their painting with a dash of the occult, the tempera panels of Bu Shi at Sarahcrown will delight.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 14, 2026
Watching women fight off the arms of the occult has a clock on it.
From Salon ● Mar. 29, 2026
“I checked the occult bookstores, the spooky carnivals, the abandoned cemeteries, and all the obscure and little-trafficked corners of the city. Nothing!”
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
When the earth's airless moon occults a star, the star winks out instantaneously.
From Time Magazine Archive
When Jupiter occults a bright star, astronomers will learn a lot about its atmosphere, which is probably thousands of miles deep and boiling with enormous storms.
From Time Magazine Archive
To their surprise, the light was not instantly shut off, as when the moon occults a star, but there was evident refraction.
From A journey in other worlds A romance of the future by John Jacob Astor
The hat occults its background, and thus reconstructs itself.
From Astounding Stories of Super-Science, October, 1930 by Various
It occults every ten seconds, and there is seven seconds' visibility, with three seconds' obscuration.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Part 4 "Bulgaria" to "Calgary" by Various
The movie’s details and themes remain theoretical, a blurred thesis about crime and punishment, about incarceration and isolation, about the occulted oppressions and subjections on which society depends.
From The New Yorker ● Apr. 10, 2019
Stern and his colleagues chased 2014 MU69 on land and through the air last summer as it occulted, or passed in front of, three background stars.
From Scientific American ● Dec. 28, 2017
Extended Data Figure 2: The occulted star spectrum and model.
From Nature ● Apr. 4, 2014
Astronomers discovered the atmosphere in 1988, when Pluto occulted another star.
From Scientific American ● Sep. 30, 2013
And though the solution to this mystery was, to my young mind, occulted, yet did 1 know where it lay: behind the forbidden door.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party" by M.T. Anderson
This occurs when its orbit passes on the line of sight between the Earth and the star, partially occulting the star -- causing a decrease in its brightness that can be observed and quantified.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 11, 2024
Shafts of brighter light swept across and across the water from occulting beacons set at long intervals among buoys.
From Our Casualty, and Other Stories 1918 by George A. Birmingham
The buoy holds 380 cub. ft. of gas, and exhibits an occulting light for 2533 hours.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Part 4 "Bulgaria" to "Calgary" by Various
Have you ever heard of an occulting light?”
From The Tale of Timber Town by Alfred A. (Alfred Augustus) Grace
They ought not all to be occulting lights.
From From Sea to Sea Letters of Travel by Rudyard Kipling
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.
