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View definitions for wizard

wizard

noun as in person who is highly skilled

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Example Sentences

A digital value accelerator can tremendously reduce barriers with well-defined wizards that guide users through innovation processes.

So in absolute terms, the wizards of wang believe, yes, it reduces the girth.

From Ozy

When examining data trends, the primary tool in the spreadsheet wizard’s toolbox is indexing.

From Quartz

Since college, Systrom has been a photo buff and an aesthete, not just a tech wizard.

From Fortune

The wizard, meanwhile, believes that technology can address environmental dangers.

“The Wizard of Watts is not just about police brutality,” he says.

Author J.K. Rowling says all religions are present at her beloved wizard school—except Wiccans.

Replying to a fan, she wrote, “Anthony Goldstein, Ravenclaw, Jewish wizard.”

To simply stay in the Wizard Chambers for a night with breakfast will run you $336 for two.

Our bad guy is Weather Wizard (not a joke), who not only looks like Kurt Cobain but can use his palms to conjure angry storms.

There he was found by old Makitok, and for some time the giant and the wizard held converse together.

Buchanan the historian was, from his learning, thought in his days of superstition to be a wizard.

But the Wizard of the North touched Scotia's rough hills with the rosy hues of his romance.

Mute, crushed by the genius of this wizard, he was forced to believe in impossible things by his doing them.

They still live in the Emerald City, and the Wizard takes good care of them and teaches them to do all sorts of tricks.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is another word for wizard?

The word wizard is most commonly used to refer to someone who can perform magic, but it also has a modern sense meaning someone who is highly skilled. Let’s conjure up some synonyms for both.

Words for a magical person

In the context of magic, synonyms for wizard include magician, sorcerer, enchanter, and conjurer. Sorcerer and enchanter also have female-specific versions: sorceress and enchantress (which is more commonly used than enchanter).

The words sorcerer and sorceress often (though not always) refer to figures who practice so-called black magic—magic used for evil purposes. In fantasy books and movies, these words are often used for evil characters.

In contrast, the words wizard and magician usually imply that such figures use their powers for good. If not, you might call them an evil wizard or a dark wizard or an evil magician. The word necromancer is often specifically used to refer to someone who uses magic to raise the dead—or other dark doings.

Sometimes, a distinction is made in which the word wizard is used for males and the word witch is used for females, but both wizard and witch can be used regardless of gender. The word warlock typically refers to a male witch.

A less common but very cool word for a wizard is thaumaturge.

Words for a highly skilled person

Calling someone a wizard to indicate that they’re extremely skilled at something suggests that they’re so good that it’s almost like magic. In this way, the word magician can be used to mean the same thing, as can sorcerer and sorceress.

This sense of wizard is commonly used in terms that specify what the person is good at, such as math wizard or computer wizard. The word wiz is a shortening of this sense and can be used in the same way (as can the spelling variant whiz). A similar word is ace.

When this sense of wizard is used in the context of mental or intellectual wizardry, a close synonym is genius.

If the skill level is very high for the person’s age, you could use prodigy.

The word virtuoso is especially used of musicians, but can be used in any context.

Some people use pop culture-related terms like rockstar and jedi.

This sense of wizard is a good word to use to avoid using similar terms that are sometimes considered forms of cultural appropriation, such as ninja and guru.

Where does wizard come from?

The first records of the word wizard in English come from the 1400s. It comes from the Middle English wisard, from the word wise. The suffix -ard is used in words referring to a person who frequently engages in a specific activity or is known for a specific characteristic (in this case, for their knowledge and wisdom).

The suffix -ard is most commonly used in negative words, unlike wizard, such as coward.

The suffix itself derives from the Germanic -hard, which literally means “hardy” or “bold” and is the basis of the final element in many Germanic masculine names, such as Bernard and Gerard.

What words are related to wizard?

As suggested by the previous section, wizard is related to the word wise. Even though a wizard might be wizened, the two words aren’t related.

A wizard practices wizardry and may be described as wizardly. The word wiz—as in math wiz—is a shortening of wizard (the word whiz is simply a spelling variant).

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On this page you'll find 73 synonyms, antonyms, and words related to wizard, such as: astrologer, clairvoyant, conjurer, diviner, enchanter, and fortuneteller.

From Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.

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