Meanings
- uncountableMagic derived from evil forces, as distinct from good or benign forces; or magic performed with the intention of doing harm.
Witches are often accused of the same sort of Devil worship as the Black Magic followers.
1965, Attila Zohar, Kings Cross Black Magic, Sydney: Horwitz Publications, page 77Synonyms: black art, cacomagic, dark magic, cacomagic, dark magic, goety, sorcery, witchcraft · Antonyms: white magic
- broadlyfigurativelyuncountableA technology, process, etc., that is mysterious, esoteric; anything which appears to be almost magic to those who do not understand it.
This is the fact of a new and vitally interesting experiment in the realm of physics, psychology, and art. There is no trick to this, as tricks go, except the mathematical magic of simple physics. Of course, simple physics for one man is black magic for another.
1920, “Two Pictures on a Single Canvas”, in Technology Review, page 5791 more example
The NCFLI will provide a step-by-step explanation of the processes involved. This should be done in order to dispel, to the extent possible, the notion that computerized production of legal texts and reports is "black magic," or that a hard copy of the processed text is something quite mysterious.
1970, Charles Nasem, The National Center for Law Information concept: a discussion, page 16Synonyms: black art
Synonyms & antonyms
nounMagic derived from evil forces, as distinct from good or benign forces; or magic performed with the intention of doing harm.
nounA technology, process, etc., that is mysterious, esoteric; anything which appears to be almost magic to those who do not understand it.
More synonyms by meaning
nounthe belief in magical spells that harness occult forces or evil spirits to produce unnatural effects in the world
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Arabic سِحْر أَسْوَد
- سِحْر أَسْوَد (siḥr ʔaswad)magic derived from evil forces
Bulgarian че́рна ма́гия
- че́рна ма́гия (čérna mágija)magic derived from evil forces
Catalan màgia negra
- màgia negramagic derived from evil forces
Chinese Mandarin 黑魔法, 黑巫術 /黑巫术
- 黑魔法 (hēimófǎ)magic derived from evil forces
- 黑巫術 /黑巫术 (hēiwūshù)magic derived from evil forces
Czech černá magie
- černá magiemagic derived from evil forces
Danish sortekunst, sort magi
- sortekunstmagic derived from evil forces
- sort magimagic derived from evil forces
Dutch zwarte magie
- zwarte magiemagic derived from evil forces
Finnish musta magia
- musta magiamagic derived from evil forces
French magie noire
- magie noiremagic derived from evil forces
German schwarze Magie, schwarze Kunst
- schwarze Magiemagic derived from evil forces
- schwarze Kunstmagic derived from evil forces
Greek μαύρη μαγεία
- μαύρη μαγεία (mávri mageía)magic derived from evil forces
Hebrew מַגְיָה שְׁחֹרָה, קֶסֶם אָפֵל
- מַגְיָה שְׁחֹרָה (mágya shḥorá)magic derived from evil forces
- קֶסֶם אָפֵל (qésem afél)magic derived from evil forces
Hindi काला जादू, जादू
- काला जादू (kālā jādū)magic derived from evil forces
- जादू (jādū)magic derived from evil forces
- यातु (yātu)magic derived from evil forces
Hungarian fekete mágia
- fekete mágiamagic derived from evil forces
Icelandic svartagaldur
- svartagaldurmagic derived from evil forces
Indonesian ilmu hitam, santet
- ilmu hitammagic derived from evil forces
- santetmagic derived from evil forces
Irish ealaín dhubh, dubhealaín
- ealaín dhubhmagic derived from evil forces
- dubhealaínmagic derived from evil forces
Italian magia nera
- magia neramagic derived from evil forces
Japanese 黒魔法, 黒魔術
- 黒魔法 (kuro-mahō)magic derived from evil forces
- 黒魔術 (kuro-majutsu)magic derived from evil forces
Korean 흑마술
- 흑마술 (heungmasul)magic derived from evil forces
Latin maleficium, magia malefica
- maleficiummagic derived from evil forces
- magia maleficamagic derived from evil forces
- veneficiummagic derived from evil forces
- goētīamagic derived from evil forces
Norwegian Bokmål svart magi
- svart magimagic derived from evil forces
Persian جادوی سیاه
- جادوی سیاه (jâdu-ye siyâh)magic derived from evil forces
Polish czarna magia
- czarna magiamagic derived from evil forces
Portuguese magia negra
- magia negramagic derived from evil forces
Romanian magie neagră
- magie neagrămagic derived from evil forces
Russian чёрная ма́гия, колдовство́
- чёрная ма́гия (čórnaja mágija)magic derived from evil forces
- колдовство́ (koldovstvó)magic derived from evil forces
Scottish Gaelic sgoil-dubh
- sgoil-dubhmagic derived from evil forces
Slovak čierna mágia
- čierna mágiamagic derived from evil forces
Spanish magia negra
- magia negramagic derived from evil forces
Swedish svartkonst
- svartkonstmagic derived from evil forces
Tagalog mahika negra
- mahika negramagic derived from evil forces
Thai คุณไสย, มนตร์ดำ
- คุณไสย (kun-sǎi)magic derived from evil forces
- มนตร์ดำmagic derived from evil forces
Turkish kara büyü
- kara büyümagic derived from evil forces
Ukrainian чо́рна ма́гія
- чо́рна ма́гія (čórna máhija)magic derived from evil forces
Vietnamese tà thuật
- tà thuậtmagic derived from evil forces
Cite this entry
black magic. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/black%20magic
“black magic.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/black%20magic. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “black magic,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/black%20magic.
Source: black magic on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.