witch
noun
a person, especially a woman, who professes or is supposed to practice magic or sorcery; a sorceress.
witch
American
[wich]
/ wɪtʃ /
noun
-
witches
plural
-
a person, especially a woman, who professes or is supposed to practice magic or sorcery; a sorceress.
This novel was about a meek businessman marrying a beautiful witch who uses her magic to help him succeed in business.
-
a woman who is supposed to have evil or wicked magical powers.
The movie features stereotypical witches in black robes and pointed hats.
-
a person who practices magic as a spiritual observance, especially as associated with neopaganism or Wicca.
She became a witch after an interest in tarot and astrology led her to classes at a local mystic shop.
-
an ugly or mean old woman; hag.
She was constantly in conflict with the old witch who used to own the building.
-
a person who uses a divining rod; dowser.
They hired a water witch to find the best location for the new well.
verb (used with object)
-
witches,
present (3rd person singular)
-
witched,
past participle, past
-
witching
present participle
-
to bring or cause by or as if by witchcraft (often followed by into, to, etc.).
She witched him into going.
-
Archaic. to affect as if by witchcraft; bewitch; charm.
verb (used without object)
-
witches,
present (3rd person singular)
-
witched,
past participle, past
-
witching
present participle
adjective
witch
1
British
/ wɪtʃ /
noun
-
historically, in mythology and fiction, a woman believed to practise magic or sorcery, esp black magic
-
a practitioner of a Nature-based religion founded on ancient beliefs, which honours both a male and female divine principle and includes the practice of magic, esp healing magic, and divination
-
informal an ugly or wicked woman
-
a fascinating or enchanting woman
-
short for water witch
verb
-
(tr) to cause or change by or as if by witchcraft
-
a less common word for bewitch
witch
2
British
/ wɪtʃ /
noun
witch-
3
British
prefix
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
witchsimple
-
witchessimple
-
have witchedperfect
-
has witchedperfect
-
am witchingprogressive
-
are witchingprogressive
-
is witchingprogressive
-
have been witchingperfect progressive
-
has been witchingperfect progressive
Past
-
witchedsimple
-
had witchedperfect
-
was witchingprogressive
-
were witchingprogressive
-
had been witchingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of witch
First recorded before 900; Middle English wicche, Old English wicce, feminine of wicca “wizard”; cf. wicked
Explanation
A witch is a person with magical powers. Most towns have a spooky old woman with a lot of cats who all the neighborhood kids suspect of being a witch. The classic picture of a witch is a woman dressed in black with a tall, pointy hat, a broom, and an ugly face — this kind of witch is a popular Halloween costume. Another kind of witch is a serious believer in the religion called Wicca. The word witch is also used to describe someone who's old and unattractive — or, conversely, a young enchantress, a girl capable of bewitching a man.
Vocabulary lists containing witch
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:
It must be the season of the witch.
From Salon ● Oct. 30, 2026
Part of what makes it a destination during the Halloween season is the city’s association with a shocking historical event: the Salem witch trials of 1692-93.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2026
He might simply have alerted the local authorities to a feral, barefoot witch roaming his property.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
The archdeacon was said to have replied: "We don't conduct witch hunts in the Sheffield diocese."
From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026
Oh, you want to know what was going on with the insta-jail cell and the whatnot melting into the floor like the witch in The Wizard of Oz?
From "The School for Whatnots" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
The squat structures were nearly saturated with rich men, sportsmen, society men and their ladies, when out on the magic carpet the witch- ery which had drawn them from across the world began.
From Time Magazine Archive
At the same time, she has made it clear that there will be no witch- hunts in the army if she is elected.
From Time Magazine Archive
But the Evangelicals tolerate a somewhat broader range of Bible interpretation and cultural outlook, and tend to be against doctrinal witch- hunts.
From Time Magazine Archive
Then the chief's wife took the boy to the headmen, and the witch- doctors.
From In Search of the Okapi A Story of Adventure in Central Africa by Ernest Glanville
Yes; if he had lived to return to his country, I fancy he would have added considerably to Afro-American witch- lore.
From The Mystery by Stewart Edward White
Instead, the victorious Malcolm’s jubilant followers dragged him off upstage to be burned at the stake while the witches temptingly held out the crown to the boy Fleance.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026
The potent Met chorus captured the shrieking cackles of the witches, the horror of the courtiers after Duncan’s murder, and the despair of the exiles fleeing Macbeth’s tyranny.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026
For a story about witches who have both the curse to kill something and the ability to resurrect it, reappraising a dead-on-arrival film is appropriately meta.
From Salon ● Sep. 14, 2026
The film resurrects the story of sisters Sally and Gillian Owens, modern day witches who face a curse that sees any man they fall in love with doomed to an early death.
From Barron's ● Sep. 13, 2026
I didn’t know what Halloween was, but it sure sounded scary, especially when they talked about bringing bats and witches and even worse—cats—right into the classroom!
From "The World According to Humphrey" by Betty G. Birney
Eichel s witched agents last month and is now represented by Creative Artists Agency’s Pat Brisson, who represents numerous high-profile NHL players.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 18, 2021
Since then, he’s witched - or doused - for unmarked graves at other cemeteries in southeast Nebraska, and for his wife’s family in Kansas.
From Washington Times ● May 9, 2015
Ballyhooed by this handbill, "Doc" Rockefeller witched dollars out of the pop-eyed citizenry of Midwestern hamlets before the Civil War.
From Time Magazine Archive
In the eyes of oldtime politicians Franklin Roosevelt has be witched the U. S. people with his smile, the toss of his head, the hearty frankness of his manner.
From Time Magazine Archive
Even dinner ladies witched at me from behind the shiny counters.
From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell
Friday also marks the regular quarterly expiration of a series of both futures and options on indexes and single stocks, known as “quadruple witching hour.”
From Barron's ● Mar. 20, 2026
The real risk, according to Matt Thompson, is what happens in the days after a triple witching.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 19, 2026
Yet these stories have real heft and depth and will linger in the imagination well beyond the witching time of year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 24, 2025
As the witching hour approached, a buzzing crowd mingled, played themed character games and snagged official “Iron Flame” merch as they waited to pick up their limited-edition hardcovers at midnight.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 8, 2023
She longed to duck underneath them and lean out of the window to see what the world looked like now that the witching hour was at hand.
From "The BFG" by Roald Dahl
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