sorcerer

American  

[sawr-ser-er] / ˈsɔr sər ər /

noun

• sorcerers
  plural

1. a person who practices sorcery; black magician; wizard.

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sorcerer British  

/ ˈsɔːsərə, ˈsɔːsərɪs /

noun

1. a person who seeks to control and use magic powers; a wizard or magician

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Usage

What does sorcerer mean? A sorcerer is a person who can perform sorcery—witchcraft or magic. The word sorcerer can be used for any gender, but it typically refers to a man. The word sorceress refers to a woman who performs sorcery. The word sorcery often (though not always) refers to so-called black magic—magic used for evil purposes. That’s why sorcerer and sorceress are often used to refer to evil characters in works of fiction, especially in the fantasy genre. In contrast, similar words like wizard and magician usually imply that such figures use their powers for good. If not, you’d usually call them an evil wizard or evil magician. Apart from whether or not they use their supernatural powers for good or evil, the words sorcerer and sorceress often imply that such a person is very powerful due to having great skill and command of such powers. For this reason, the word sorcerer is sometimes used in a figurative way to refer to a person who is very skilled at something, as if they have magical abilities, as in Chris is a sorcerer at coding. The word sorcery can be used to refer to such skill. The words wizard and wizardry are used (even more commonly) in the same ways. Example: The sorcerer has cast a powerful spell to enchant this land.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• undersorcerer
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• sorcerers
  plural

Etymology

Origin of sorcerer

1520–30; earlier sorcer, Middle English < Middle French sorcier, perhaps < Vulgar Latin *sortiārius one who casts lots, equivalent to Latin sort- (stem of sors ) lot, fate + -i- -i- + -ārius -ier ²; see -er ¹

Compare meaning

How does sorcerer compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• warlock vs. sorcerer

Explanation

Magical, mysterious, and quite possibly mythical, a sorcerer is a name for a spell-casting wizard. Use the noun sorcerer when you're talking about a magician who practices enchantments and conjures spells. Sorcerers appear in many fantasy novels and Shakespeare plays. The word for a female sorcerer is sorceress. The Latin word sors, "fate or fortune," is at the root of sorcerer, which didn't come into popular use until after the 1940 release of the Disney film "Fantasia," which featured Mickey Mouse as the character "the sorcerer's apprentice."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

sorcerer sorcerers

Unlike sorcerer "Koshchei the Deathless", the Kremlin cannot abracadabra coins out of thin air.

From BBC ● Jun. 7, 2026

Regardless, standout performances such as Daniel Camargo’s compelling prince, Léa Fleytoux’s fabulously arrow-sharp Firebird and Patrick Frenette’s demonic sorcerer held the stage with impressive individuality.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 18, 2026

The question is how deep her team can go in a bracket that includes defending national champion Louisiana State and Iowa and its scoring sorcerer, Caitlin Clark.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 23, 2024

So at long last, Capcom is delivering Dragon’s Dogma II. You create your character, the “Arisen,” from scratch, building on typical RPG species like humans, elves and “beastrens” and jobs like warrior, archer and sorcerer.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 17, 2024

What kind of magic had that sorcerer gotten good at?

From Anya and the Nightingale by Sofiya Pasternack

Her husband, who would later write witches and sorcerers and soothsayers into “Macbeth,” “The Tempest” and “Julius Caesar,” is taxed by her psychic gifts.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 25, 2025

His latest scene-stealing role is in the AMC series “Mayfair Witches,” where he plays Cortland Mayfair, the patriarch of a long line of powerful sorcerers trying to survive in modern-day New Orleans.

From Salon ● Feb. 20, 2025

Historians believe members travelled through villages searching for troublemakers, including suspected sorcerers.

From BBC ● Dec. 19, 2023

Around the king’s town are domed buildings and groves and thickets where the sorcerers of these people, men in charge of the religious cult, live.

From Textbooks ● Apr. 19, 2023

That spring Ged saw little of either Vetch or Jasper, for they being sorcerers studied now with the Master Patterner in the secrecy of the Immanent Grove, where no prentice might set foot.

From "A Wizard of Earthsea" by Ursula K. Le Guin