Word.ws English Dictionary

charm

UK/tʃɑːm//t͡ʃɑɹm/

charm noun: an object, act or words believed to have magic power (usually carries a positive connotation).

Noun (1)

charm (countable and uncountable, plural charms)

  1. An object, act or words believed to have magic power (usually carries a positive connotation).
    • a charm against evil
    • It works like a charm.
  2. (in plural, often) The ability to persuade, delight or arouse admiration.
    • He had great personal charm.
    • She tried to win him over with her charms.
    Antonyms:
    boredom, dryness
  3. A small trinket on a bracelet or chain, etc., traditionally supposed to confer luck upon the wearer.
    • She wears a charm bracelet on her wrist.
  4. (collective) A group of goldfinches or other songbirds, or sometimes hummingbirds.
    • It's a charm of hummingbirds, a rare sight.2020, Janine Urbaniak Reid, The Opposite of Certainty: Fear, Faith, and Life in Between, Thomas Nelson, page 263
    • Nearby, a charm of nightingales flooded the daylit branches of a wood.2014, Laurie Lee, I Can't Stay Long, Open Road Media
    Synonyms:
    flock
  5. (particle) A quantum number of hadrons determined by the number of charm quarks and antiquarks.
    • In trying to understand the long life of the psi particle, physicists postulated the notion of “charm.” Charm, they say, prevents the “easy” decay of particles and thus prolongs their lifetimes. U particles, Dr. Pert said, may carry the property of charm.1975 July 31, Sandra Blakeslee, “Another Particle Believed Discovered”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
    • Mesons which combine the charmed quark with the up or down antiquarks are denoted the D mesons. These mesons carry explicit charm (i.e. have a non-zero charm quantum number), just as the K mesons carry strangeness.2020, James E. Dodd, Ben Gripaios, The Ideas of Particle Physics, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 173
  6. A second-order measure of derivative price sensitivity, expressed as the instantaneous rate of change of delta with respect to time.
  7. (Microsoft Windows) An icon providing quick access to a command or setting.
    • Undoubtedly one of the most important pieces to navigating Windows 8, charms are actually not visible until a command to show them is given.2012, J. Peter Bruzzese, Using Windows 8

Verb

charm (third-person singular simple present charms, present participle charming, simple past and past participle charmed)

  1. To seduce, persuade or fascinate someone or something.
    • He charmed her with his dashing tales of his days as a sailor.
    • […]they, on thir mirth & dance / Intent, with jocond Muſic charm his ear;1667, John Milton, “Book I”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished...
  2. (transitive) To use a magical charm upon; to subdue, control, or summon by incantation or supernatural influence; to ensorcel or exert a magical effect on.
    • After winning three games while wearing the chain, Dan began to think it had been charmed.
    • Nor no witch-craft charme thee.1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard...
  3. To protect with, or make invulnerable by, spells, charms, or supernatural influences.
    • She led a charmed life.
    • I, in mine owne woe charm’d, / Could not finde death,[…]1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard...
  4. (obsolete, rare) To make music upon.
    • But ah my corage cooles ere it be warme, / For thy, content vs in thys humble ſhade: / Where no ſuch troublous tydes han vs aſſayde, / Here we our ſlender pipes may ſafely charme.1579, Immeritô [pseudonym; Edmund Spenser], “October. Ægloga Decima.”, in The Shepheardes Calender: […], London: […] Hugh Singleton, […], →OCLC, folio 42, recto
  5. To subdue or overcome by some secret power, or by that which gives pleasure; to allay; to soothe.
    • Music the fierceſt griefs can charm, / And fate's ſevereſt rage diſarm: […]1687 (date written), Alexander Pope, “Ode for Musick on St. Cecilia’s Day”, in The Works of Mr. Alexander Pope, volume I, London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintot, […], →OCLC, canto VII, page...

Noun (2)

charm (plural charms)

  1. The mixed sound of many voices, especially of birds or children.
    • […]Free libertie to chaunt our charmes at will:[…]1591, Ed[mund] Sp[enser], “The Teares of the Muses”, in Complaints. Containing Sundrie Small Poemes of the Worlds Vanitie. […], London: […] William Ponsonbie, […], →OCLC
    • Sweet is the breath of morn, her riſing ſweet,
      With charm of earlieſt Birds;1667, John Milton, “Book IV”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished...
  2. A flock, group (especially of finches).
    • A charm of finches flew overhead, singing into the vivid afternoon sky.2018, Holly Ringland, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart

charm meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali

charm in Hindi

something with magic power
टोना ṭonā, जादू jādū
quality of inspiring delight or admiration
मोह moh, अदा adā
seduce, entrance or fascinate
लुभाना lubhānā

charm in Tamil

அழகு, கவர், கவர் ஆற்றல், கவர்ச்சி, மகீழ்வி, மந்திரம்

charm in Urdu

something with magic power
جادو jādū, منتر mantar, ٹونا ṭonā, ادا adā
quality of inspiring delight or admiration
ادا adā

charm in Bengali

something with magic power
জাদু jadu
More languagesFewer languages
charm in Telugu
లావణ్యము lāvaṇyamu, మంత్రించు mantriñcu
charm in Malayalam
രസം rasaṁ
charm in Kannada
ಚೆಲುವು celuvu
charm in Punjabi
ਧਾਗਾ dhāgā, ਤੰਤਰ tantar, حسن ḥusan, ਪਰਚਾ parcā
charm in Sanskrit
करण karaṇa, योग yoga, लावण्य lāvaṇya, लक्ष्मी lakṣmī
charm in Tagalog
anting-anting, alindog
charm in Persian
افسون afsun

Examples of charm in a sentence

  • […]the charm of Beauties powerful glance.1667, John Milton, “Book VIII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by...
  • Charms ſtrike the ſight, but merit wins the ſoul.1714, Alexander Pope, “The Rape of the Lock”, in The Works of Mr. Alexander Pope, volume I, London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard...
  • Her coyneſs was conquered by aſſiduity, and at laſt ſhe conſented to reſign the treaſure of her charms to my paſſion.1769, Firishta, translated by Alexander Dow, Tales translated from the Persian of Inatulla of Delhi, volume I, Dublin: P. and W. Wilson et...
  • Therefore, do not fear, but trust in your Father's unfailing care, for you are more precious than a charm of sparrows.2015, Wayne L. Ney, The Story of the Messiah: A Historical Account of the Life of Jesus Christ, WestBow Press, page 168:

All 40 example sentences with charm

Synonyms of charm

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of charm

Forms of charm

Noun
pluralcharms
alternative form (obsolete)charme
alternative form (dialectal)jarm
Verb
third-person singular presentcharms
present participlecharming
past participlecharmed
pastcharmed

Past tense of charm: charmed

Plural of charm: charms

Origin of charm

From Middle English charme, from Old French charme (“chant, magic spell”), from Latin carmen (“song, incantation”). Displaced native Old English lybb (“drug, poison, charm”).

Synchronically a variant of chirm, but reflects Middle English charme (or unattested *charm), from Old English ċearm (“cry, alarm”), from Proto-West Germanic *karm, masculine variant of *karmi f, from Proto-Germanic *karmiz, *karm(j)az (“cry, lament, calling sound”). Near-doublet of chirm, which is from the feminine counterpart.

Words formed from charm

Phrases with charm

Words that rhyme with charm

19 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about charm

What does charm mean?
Charm means an object, act or words believed to have magic power (usually carries a positive connotation).
What is charm in Hindi?
Charm in Hindi is टोना (ṭonā), जादू (jādū), मोह (moh). See Charm meaning in Hindi.
How do you use charm in a sentence?
[…]the charm of Beauties powerful glance.
What part of speech is charm?
Charm can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce charm?
Charm is pronounced /tʃɑːm/ (UK).
What is the plural of charm?
The plural of charm is charms.

Words near charm in the dictionary

  1. Charlton-on-Otmoor
  2. Charlwood
  3. Charly
  4. Charlyn
  5. Charlyne
  6. charm
  7. charm a bird off a branch
  8. charm bracelet
  9. charm bracelets
  10. Charm City
  11. charm offensive

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: charm (page history and authors); charm (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); രസം (Malayalam) (page history and authors); ಚೆಲುವು (Kannada) (page history and authors); حسن (Punjabi) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-charm.ogg.

Cite this entry: “charm.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/charm. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.