bewitch
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
verb
-
to attract and fascinate; enchant
-
to cast a spell over
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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bewitchernoun
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bewitcherynoun
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bewitchingnessnoun
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bewitchmentnoun
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bewitchingadjective
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bewitchinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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bewitchsimple
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bewitchessimple
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have bewitchedperfect
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has bewitchedperfect
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am bewitchingprogressive
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are bewitchingprogressive
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is bewitchingprogressive
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have been bewitchingperfect progressive
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has been bewitchingperfect progressive
Past
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bewitchedsimple
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had bewitchedperfect
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was bewitchingprogressive
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were bewitchingprogressive
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had been bewitchingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of bewitch
First recorded in 1175–1225, bewitch is from the Middle English word biwicchen; see be-, witch
Explanation
To bewitch is to cast a spell on someone with witchcraft or to capture their attention in another way. You might bewitch someone with your beauty or with your potion. The choice is yours. The word witch is a big clue to what bewitching means. In a Halloween story, if a witch casts a spell over someone to control them, that's an example of bewitching. Bewitching happens in the real world when something captures your attention or attracts you. A fascinating storyteller bewitches you. When people fall in love, they bewitch one another.
Vocabulary lists containing bewitch
Born a Crime
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"The Flight of Icarus" by Sally Benson
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Merci Suárez Changes Gears
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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:
Unlike Godard, he doesn’t try to bewitch you with theory.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2025
The prosecution alleged that Phiri and Candunde were hired by a fugitive former MP to bewitch Hichilema.
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2025
Well, when there are people available to bewitch.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 5, 2022
The Friz’s diverse interests, complete fearlessness, and unflagging cheer both annoy and bewitch her students.
From Slate ● Jul. 17, 2020
“Have they found a new way to bewitch us?”
From "Ella Enchanted" by Gail Carson Levine
He has constructed a glossy fever dream that bewitches as much as it befuddles.
From Salon ● May 20, 2022
An Ozark faith healer bewitches two construction engineers.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 8, 2020
Orange wines may seem trendy, like a hipster fashion that bewitches bargoers from London to Tokyo.
From New York Times ● May 7, 2020
Its heroine Seren must battle a vengeful supernatural being that bewitches her adoptive aristocratic Welsh family.
From The Guardian ● Nov. 9, 2019
"They say he practises magic," said that garrulous man, as the taxi got on its way; "also that he bewitches you."
From The Book of All-Power by Wallace, Edgar
But Mozart’s genius obliterates Salieri’s limited talent so utterly that the elder musician is bewitched by it.
From Salon ● May 16, 2026
Studebaker halted Avanti production after only a year; but the design lived on until 2006, with its rights passing through a succession of wildcat coachbuilders too bewitched to help themselves.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2025
In Episode 1, the bewitched Agatha peers into what appears to be a child’s room in her house.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2024
He owns more than a thousand of them - although he only plays a select few on stage - and, even as he approaches 80, the star is still bewitched by the instrument.
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2023
He heard Hermione whisper, “It’s bewitched to look like the sky outside. I read about it in Hogwarts: A History.”
From "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" by J.K. Rowling
Outflanked by cruel and fickle gods at every turn, legendary Greek hero Odysseus outsmarted a one-eyed giant, suffered through the bewitching Sirens’ song and braved the Underworld’s dead denizens.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
It was expensive, but worth every penny — a beautiful, abstract rendering of the film’s themes, displayed in a bewitching graphic style I couldn’t get out of my mind after coveting the poster online.
From Salon ● Apr. 17, 2026
Of the ones that have survived, Isidora is the most bewitching, almost perfectly preserved and flawlessly executed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 20, 2026
Gloriously unpredictable and, at times, impossible to read, they are wildly entertaining - bewildering, bewitching, brilliant.
From BBC ● Feb. 14, 2026
It would be a small, bewitching rectangle on the wall, drawing an occasional glance, not crowds.
From "The Mona Lisa Vanishes" by Nicholas Day
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.
