Occult
adj, noun, verb ·Common ·Middle school level
Definitions
- 1 Supernatural affairs. uncountable, usually, with-definite-article
"Due to my strong personal convictions / I wish to stress / That this record / In no way endorses / A belief in the occult"
- 2 supernatural practices and techniques wordnet
- 3 supernatural forces and events and beings collectively wordnet
- 1 To cover or hide from view. transitive
"The Earth occults the Moon during a lunar eclipse."
- 2 hide from view wordnet
- 3 To dissimulate, conceal, or obfuscate. rare, transitive
"[…]to do so would occult rather than illuminate the utterly unexpected and surprising character of his coming and of his reign."
- 4 become concealed or hidden from view or have its light extinguished wordnet
- 5 cause an eclipse of (a celestial body) by intervention wordnet
- 1 Secret; hidden from general knowledge; undetected.
"occult blood loss; occult cancer"
- 2 not visible, but chemically detectable.
"occult blood in the urine"
- 3 Related to the occult; pertaining to mysticism, magic, or astrology.
"The concoctions contrived by Italians were particularly in clamant demand, while the occult sciences of astrology and alchemy lent their support[.]"
- 4 Esoteric.
"Elbows almost touching they leaned at ease, idly reading the almost obliterated lines engraved there. ¶ "I never understood it," she observed, lightly scornful. "What occult meaning has a sun-dial for the spooney? I'm sure I don't want to read riddles in a strange gentleman's optics.""
- 1 having an import not apparent to the senses nor obvious to the intelligence; beyond ordinary understanding wordnet
- 2 hidden and difficult to see wordnet
Example
More examples"Tom has studied the occult sciences."
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin occultus (“hidden, secret”).
Related phrases
More for "occult"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.