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
verb (used with object)
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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)
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
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occultedsimple
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had occultedperfect
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was occultingprogressive
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were occultingprogressive
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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:
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
Watching women fight off the arms of the occult has a clock on it.
From Salon ● Mar. 29, 2026
"You have an entire landscape of uncertainty and vulnerability and you have this 1,000-year-old tapestry of spells and medicines and occult knowledge that just has seeped into the Burmese consciousness."
From Barron's ● Dec. 21, 2025
The love of ambiguity can feel somewhat coy—Ms. Tokarczuk gestures toward the existence of occult mysteries without deigning to fully portray them.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 28, 2025
Some nights, groups of church members, concerned about the increasing interest in the occult, gathered outside the house to protest.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
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
We note the stars it occults, or passes by, and leaves behind as it broadens its disk, till it rises full-orbed in the east when the sun sinks in the west.
From Recreations in Astronomy With Directions for Practical Experiments and Telescopic Work by Warren, Henry White
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 Astor, John Jacob
The hat occults its background, and thus reconstructs itself.
From Astounding Stories of Super-Science, October, 1930 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 Fig. 2The 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
Although in actual and deliberate transit on rollers across the backyard and still occulting a part of the view, it remained, after the reckless fashion of the period, inhabited.
From The Heritage of Dedlow Marsh and Other Tales by Harte, Bret
On the level again, where the occulting beam of the Massowah lighthouse was hidden by the buildings on the island, they unexpectedly came upon a disabled vehicle.
From The Wheel O' Fortune by Tracy, Louis
An occulting light means that some of the time the light is shut off, and at others it isn't.
From The Boy With the U. S. Life-Savers by Rolt-Wheeler, Francis
In 1878 gas buoys, with fixed and occulting lights of 10-candle power, were introduced.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Part 4 "Bulgaria" to "Calgary" by Various
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.
