witch hunter

noun

A person employed to find witches as part of a witch-hunt; a witchfinder.

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Meanings

nounwitch hunter (plural witch hunters)

plural witch hunters · alternative witch-hunter · alternative witchhunter

  1. A person employed to find witches as part of a witch-hunt; a witchfinder.

    That is why the witch-hunters believed that every true witch must carry the mark of His Satanic Majesty on her body.

    1965, Attila Zohar, Kings Cross Black Magic, Sydney: Horwitz Publications, page 129
  2. figurativelyOne who undertakes a witch-hunt (a public or political campaign or investigation which smears a person or group).

    Now, however, Ford wrote, “Those days are over; there are no more witch-hunters” because Trump has gotten rid of them all.

    2025 July 22, Jennifer Bowers Bahney, “'Struggling' Trump spirals as 'usual playbook' fails to get him out of jam: report”, in Raw Story

Origin

From witch hunt + -er.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

witch hunter. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/witch%20hunter

MLA

“witch hunter.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/witch%20hunter. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “witch hunter,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/witch%20hunter.

Source: witch hunter on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.