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• witch hunt
  witch hunt

  noun

  (in historical use) the investigation, trial, and punishment of alleged practitioners of witchcraft.
• witch-hunt
  witch-hunt

  noun

  a rigorous campaign to round up or expose dissenters on the pretext of safeguarding the welfare of the public

witch hunt

American  

[wich-huhnt] / ˈwɪtʃˌhʌnt /

Or witch-hunt

noun

1. (in historical use) the investigation, trial, and punishment of alleged practitioners of witchcraft.

2. an intensive inquiry, originally or purportedly to discover and expose dishonesty, subversion, or other wrongdoing, the scope and conclusions of which often include and bring harm to innocent persons or their reputations through reliance on hearsay or circumstantial evidence.

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verb (used with object)

1. to subject to a witch hunt.

   The defendant claimed he was being witch-hunted due to his political activism.

witch-hunt British  

noun

1. a rigorous campaign to round up or expose dissenters on the pretext of safeguarding the welfare of the public

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Other Word Forms

• witch hunter
  noun
• witch-hunter
  noun
• witch-hunting
  noun
• witch-hunting
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of witch hunt

First recorded in 1885–90 witch hunt for def. 1; in 1935–40 witch hunt for def. 2; and in 1945–50 witch hunt for def. 3; the gerund witch-hunting was first recorded in 1635–40

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

witch hunt witch-hunt

Jason Arday’s academic rise and fall set off a debate about whether he was a fantasist and plagiarist or victim of a racial witch hunt.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026

In a statement, she denounced the process as unfair, saying the Ethics Committee "refused my new attorney's reasonable request for time to prepare my defense" and describing the proceedings as "a witch hunt."

From Barron's ● Apr. 21, 2026

“They did this giant witch hunt sweep and effectively changed the lives of 30 people and all the people that depend on them.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 7, 2026

The brothers have not made any public statements, but their lawyer told the court that they were being made victims of a "witch hunt".

From BBC ● Dec. 11, 2025

Robert Oppenheimer was destined to become the most prominent victim of the witch hunt.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik

“Good Night, and Good Luck,” a deft stage translation of the movie chronicling CBS newsman Murrow’s heroic stand against Sen. Joseph McCarthy’s communist witch-hunt, may not have made the playwriting cut.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 1, 2025

In the summer of 2021, after six years of lobbying by a coalition of witch-hunt survivors, nongovernmental organizations, academics and lawyers, the United Nations passed a resolution condemning witch-hunting and ritual attacks.

From Scientific American ● May 31, 2023

Church officials say it and its millions of worshippers are victims of a witch-hunt.

From Reuters ● Mar. 12, 2023

“When you don’t understand a group and then you blame them for a problem, that is witch-hunt mentality.”

From New York Times ● Feb. 16, 2023

The last thing we need in the twentieth century, she wrote, is another witch-hunt.

From "Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho" by Jon Katz