witch 1 of 2

Definition of witch
1
as in sorcerer
a woman believed to have often harmful supernatural powers the 17th-century house had once belonged to a woman who was hanged as a witch

Synonyms & Similar Words

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2
as in hag
a mean or ugly old woman a foul-tempered old witch who is constantly at odds with her neighbors

Synonyms & Similar Words

3

witch

2 of 2

verb

archaic

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of witch
Noun
Black cats can be seen as bad omens, sometimes associated with witches and with the old superstition to not let a black cat cross your path. Maddie Rhodes, USA Today, 17 Aug. 2026 In other cases Hoodoo was used to counter the threat of curses, as in the practice of suspending bottles from a tree to trap any malevolent spirits or witches traveling in spirit form. Encyclopedia Britannica, 14 Aug. 2026
Verb
Finally, today is triple witching with equity options, futures and futures options all set to expire. Jj Kinahan, Forbes.com, 19 Sep. 2025 And also that people have used four branches of witch hazel as the vining rods or witching sticks to find water. Steve Bender, Southern Living, 27 Aug. 2025 See All Example Sentences for witch
Recent Examples of Synonyms for witch
Noun
  • The sorcerers, it was thought, targeted their victims by stealing bits of their hair, clothes, nails, or feces, and wrapping them in a bundle with leaves.
    Rachel Aviv, New Yorker, 17 Aug. 2026
  • The man was a rock and roll sound smith and a lyrical sorcerer.
    Liza Lentini, SPIN, 14 Aug. 2026
Noun
  • The cast are clustered around a table of props and despite her disappointment at the lack of hag wigs, Dale Dickey is flapping a fishing net like a seafaring matador.
    Antonia Blyth, Deadline, 14 Aug. 2026
  • Pinned beneath her rotting legs in his recliner chair, Loftis narrowly escapes by yanking its lever, catapulting the hag over his head.
    Tessa Solomon, ARTnews.com, 15 July 2026
Noun
  • Months earlier, Andy accidentally entered a magical portal, became a mage and saved the realm, but no one at home believed him.
    Carly Tagen-Dye, PEOPLE, 13 Aug. 2026
  • This young adult fantasy follows a 16-year-old who discovers a magical attack and realizes this new world of demons and mages has a connection to her mother’s death.
    Clare Mulroy, USA Today, 2 July 2026
Verb
  • Things to do in Belmont Prince was charmed by the variety of festivals hosted in town while visiting.
    Eva Flowe August 21, Charlotte Observer, 21 Aug. 2026
  • Deep down, there’s a part of Priscilla that’s still charmed by John.
    Max Gao, Variety, 19 Aug. 2026
Noun
  • Told in alternating POVs between a sorceress, a woman knight and a serving girl, this is a fever dream of a fantasy novel with plenty of room for readers to make their own inferences about what’s really going on.
    S.M. Hallow, PEOPLE, 18 Aug. 2026
  • The purple one is supposedly Clea, the sorceress who meets up with Doctor Strange at the end of Multiverse and is promptly never seen again.
    Paul Tassi, Forbes.com, 10 Aug. 2026
Noun
  • The series follows James (Jimmi Simpson), an ex-firefighter who teams up with a shady magician named Paul (Damon Herriman) to steal money from Paul’s father, a manipulative pastor played by Ben Kingsley.
    Britt Hayes, Entertainment Weekly, 7 Aug. 2026
  • Whether magicians, thieves, or just fed up citizens, somebody has made an entire city’s worth of ALPRs vanish in the night.
    Joe Wilkins, Futurism, 5 Aug. 2026
Verb
  • The question fascinated David Hilbert, a renowned mathematician who had devoted much of his life to rebuilding physics on a sturdy foundation of crisp axioms.
    Quanta Magazine, Quanta Magazine, 26 Aug. 2026
  • QAnon haunts Washington I’m particularly fascinated by the ghost of QAnon – how the theory continues to haunt politics today.
    Matthew N. Hannah, The Conversation, 25 Aug. 2026
Noun
  • And for all the Padres’ successes under private equity wizard Peter Seidler, his biggest bet went bust, the ‘23 Padres missing the playoffs despite his approving MLB’s third-highest payroll.
    Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Aug. 2026
  • He a notoriously vain, boastful and fame-obsessed wizard well versed in Memory Charms who is recruited by Dumbledore as Professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts.
    Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 24 Aug. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Witch.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/witch. Accessed 29 Aug. 2026.

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