Salem witch trials
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When people are quick to accuse one another of serious misdeeds on inadequate evidence, the situation is often compared to the Salem witch trials.
A “witch hunt” is a political campaign launched under the pretext of investigating activities considered subversive by the state.
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.
Ward’s opera has a related theme: It is based on the 1953 Arthur Miller play that used the 17th-century Salem witch trials as a metaphor for the McCarthy era.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 23, 2026
The witch trials that are perhaps best known are the infamous Salem witch trials that took place in Massachusetts, USA, between February 1692 and May 1693.
From BBC • Mar. 17, 2024
But advocates of the resolution argued it’s important to raise public awareness about the witch trials in Connecticut, which occurred decades before the infamous Salem witch trials in Massachusetts.
From Washington Times • May 26, 2023
The Massachusetts Bay Colony’s darkest moment may have come during the 1692 Salem witch trials, when Puritan leaders executed nineteen people for witchcraft.
From Textbooks • Dec. 14, 2022
Though the Salem witch trials were 150 years past, in remote areas like Hydesville, belief in sorcery and evil held fast.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
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.
