charm
1 Americannoun
-
a power of pleasing or attracting, as through personality or beauty: the charm of a mountain lake.
charm of manner;
the charm of a mountain lake.
- Synonyms:
- allurement, attractiveness
-
a trait or feature imparting this power.
-
charms, attractiveness.
-
a trinket to be worn on a bracelet, necklace, etc.
- Synonyms:
- bauble
-
something worn or carried on one's person for its supposed magical effect; amulet.
- Synonyms:
- talisman
-
any action supposed to have magical power.
- Synonyms:
- spell, enchantment
-
the chanting or recitation of a magic verse or formula.
-
a verse or formula credited with magical power.
- Synonyms:
- spell
-
Physics. a quantum number assigned the value +1 for one kind of quark, −1 for its antiquark, and 0 for all other quarks. C
verb (used with object)
-
charms,
present (3rd person singular)
-
charmed,
past participle, past
-
charming
present participle
-
to delight or please greatly by beauty, attractiveness, etc.; enchant.
She charmed us with her grace.
-
to act upon (someone or something) with or as with a compelling or magical force.
to charm a bird from a tree.
-
to endow with or protect by supernatural powers.
-
to gain or influence through personal charm.
He charmed a raise out of his boss.
verb (used without object)
-
charms,
present (3rd person singular)
-
charmed,
past participle, past
-
charming
present participle
-
to be fascinating or pleasing.
-
to use charms.
-
to act as a charm.
noun
noun
noun
-
the quality of pleasing, fascinating, or attracting people
-
a pleasing or attractive feature
-
a small object worn or kept for supposed magical powers of protection; amulet; talisman
-
a trinket worn on a bracelet
-
a magic spell; enchantment
-
a formula or action used in casting such a spell
-
physics an internal quantum number of certain elementary particles, used to explain some scattering experiments
-
perfectly; successfully
verb
-
to attract or fascinate; delight greatly
-
to cast a magic spell on
-
to protect, influence, or heal, supposedly by magic
-
(tr) to influence or obtain by personal charm
he charmed them into believing him
-
One of the flavors of quarks, contributing to the charm number—a quantum number—for hadrons.
-
A charmed particle is a particle that contains at least one charmed quark or charmed antiquark. The charmed quark was hypothesized to account for the longevity of the J/psi particle and to explain differences in the behavior of leptons and hadrons.
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See more at flavor
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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charmsimple
-
charmssimple
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have charmedperfect
-
has charmedperfect
-
am charmingprogressive
-
are charmingprogressive
-
is charmingprogressive
-
have been charmingperfect progressive
-
has been charmingperfect progressive
Past
-
charmedsimple
-
had charmedperfect
-
was charmingprogressive
-
were charmingprogressive
-
had been charmingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of charm1
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English charme “magical verse or incantation,” from Old French, from Latin carmen “song, magical formula,” from unattested canmen (by dissimilation), equivalent to can(ere) “to sing” + -men noun suffix
Origin of charm2
First recorded in 1520–30 as cherme, dialect variant of chirm “noise, din,” perhaps associated with charm 1 ( def. ) (in the sense “chanting of a magic verse”)
Explanation
A charm is a magical spell or an object that brings luck: it's also a quality of being attractive and pleasing. To charm someone is to attract them. There are several types of charms, but they mostly relate to attraction and good luck. A lucky coin is a charm. The spell of a witch that entrances you is a charm. People with magnetic personalities, who make you want to hang out with them, have charm and are therefore considered charming. Also, to charm someone is to attract them and win them over. Popular politicians charm the masses, and teachers' pets charm their teachers.
Vocabulary lists containing charm
The SAT: Multiple-Meaning Words, List 3
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The New SAT: Multiple-Meaning Words
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The ACT Reading Test: Multiple-Meaning Words, List 8
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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:
To outsiders, this can be surprising because he is charm personified with the media, a delight to deal with.
From BBC ● Nov. 4, 2026
But part of maintaining its heart and charm is remembering that at its core, “it’s kind of a small operation.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 3, 2026
The collaboration investigated particles containing a charm quark and a lighter quark, comparing how strongly their production was suppressed in oxygen and neon collisions.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 3, 2026
A lead love charm from the third century has a particularly ambitious suitor asking for not one but four women to fall for him.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026
“We’ll tell him it’s a charm book,” Anya said.
From Anya and the Nightingale by Sofiya Pasternack
Mr. Reid is an engaging leading man, and Rapp either charms or alienates everyone he meets.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 20, 2026
The world's largest jewellery brand showed off bracelet charms featuring Vietnam's national flag and a bowl of pho noodle soup as it opened a manufacturing centre in the country on Thursday, its first outside Thailand.
From Barron's ● Oct. 1, 2026
One of the charms of baseball is a cliche: Anything can happen — in a single game or in a short series.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2026
But the Independent was cooler on the launch episode as a whole, saying the show "wastes Nigella's prodigious charms and misses chance for a true revamp".
From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026
“I can see that if we allow the slightest divagation on the subject of your charms, we shall never have time to hear the tale of your escape.”
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
Along the way, we met many people who were both curious and charmed by the iconic conifers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026
This was a break from the tightly coiffed styling of earlier period productions, from Merchant Ivory films to Ang Lee’s 1995 “Sense and Sensibility,” in which Kate Winslet charmed as a put-together Marianne.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
Norway’s Erling Haaland, who charmed the world during this summer’s tournament, has more goals for club and country at 26 than either Messi or Ronaldo had at the same age.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2026
On television, she charmed everyone from Carol Burnett to The Muppets to the “Designing Women.”
From Salon ● Aug. 25, 2026
She charmed me as easily as she did the ogres.
From "Ella Enchanted" by Gail Carson Levine
Holly Madison remembers the exact moment she first saw her charming Hollywoodland tudor.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 2, 2026
Jerry Hall also won viewers over with her charming eccentricity.
From BBC ● Nov. 1, 2026
Mountains surround a charming town next to a lake so big its Chinese name is “ear-shaped sea.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 1, 2026
The menus would be illustrated by hand, which sounds charming until you’ve spent an entire afternoon trying to get the shading right on a watercolor artichoke.
From Salon ● Oct. 30, 2026
Benji knew he must look like a normal kid—well, a charming kid—coming into the store with maybe twenty dollars in his pocket.
From "Millionaires for the Month" by Stacey McAnulty
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