wizard

Someone, usually male, who uses (or has skill with) magic, mystic items, and magical and mystical practices.

Adjective

  1. Fine, superb (originally RAF slang).
    • "We had a wizard show," the young leader of an Australian squadron said, trying to keep the excitement out of his voice. - 1942, Quentin James Reynolds, Only the Stars are Neutral:
    • But he was a wizard flyer, that boy. - 1943, Howard Macy Coffin and Walter Leslie River, Malta Story:

Origin

From Middle English wysard, wysarde, equivalent to wise + -ard. A uniquely medieval Anglo-Saxon word with no known morphologically exact cognates inside the Germanic family; did not gain distinct sense of "occultist, magic user" (as opposed to a philosopher or sage) until circa 1500s, aligning roughly with the starting English Renaissance. However, via Proto-Indo-European *weyd- cognate with Proto-Celtic *druwits (whence English druid), Proto-Slavic *vědьma (Polish wiedźma, Russian ве́дьма (védʹma)), Russian веду́н (vedún). The sense of "old (male) virgin" is from a Japanese Internet meme in which virgins who are typically friendless, shy outcasts and loners who don't fit in anywhere legendarily gain magical powers upon reaching 30 years of age; popularized ultimately by 4chan and adjacent online incel spaces. Compare typologically specialist (<< Latin speciō).

Noun

  1. Someone, usually male, who uses (or has skill with) magic, mystic items, and magical and mystical practices.
    • The wizard conjured up a large fireball.
    • The wily wizard must be caught. - 1697, John Dryden, Translation of Virgil's Georgics:
    • He found himself watching a couple of wizards doing what he at first mistook for the beginning of a dance, and then for a session of tai chi. But suddenly he realized they were signing. - 2016 February 2, Diane Duane,...

    Synonyms: conjurer mage magician magic user mystic sorcerer warlock witch

  2. One who is especially skilled or unusually talented in a particular field.
    • He was a financial wizard, capable of predicting the movements of the stock markets.

    Synonyms: expert genius prodigy

  3. A computer program or script used to simplify complex operations, often for an inexperienced user.
    • Use the "Add Network Connection" wizard to connect to a network in a series of simple steps.
    • Figure 10-10 shows a typical wizard. The user enters data in New Employee on each tab and then moves on to the next one. This wizard asks […] - 2010 September 17, Bill Evjen, Christian Nagel, Rod Stephens, Robert...

    Synonyms: assistant

  4. An administrator of a multi-user dungeon, or someone who has earned similar rights through gameplay; a user in wizard mode.
    • Wizards, in general, have a very different experience of mudding than other players. Because of their palpable and extensive extra powers over other players, and because of their special role in MUD society, they are...
    • It is certainly easy to believe the stories I hear of MUD wizards who demand deference and severely punish those who transgress […] - 1997, Sara Kiesler, editor, Culture of the Internet, page 132:
  5. A wise man; a sage.
    • See how from far upon the eastern road / The star-led wizards [Magi] haste with odours sweet! - 1629, John Milton, “On the Morning of Christs Nativity”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for...
  6. A virgin over the age of 30 who does not socialize and thus cannot find a sexual partner.
    • “I see this image of the basement-dwelling wizard who rejects societal conventions to such an extreme degree as one of the tragic heroes of our times.” - 2014 September 23, Joe Zadeh, quoting Jon Rafman, “"Musician...
    • The incels’ folk hero is the 30-year-old virgin wizard – if you can make it to 30 without having sex, you will be endowed with magical powers. And the threads are so pathetic that it is hard to feel anything but ambient...
    • Incels are mostly losers who don’t get laid — involuntarily celibate. Basically it’s a giant pity party that started on the 4chan board R9K. R9K is a board on 4chan where inceldom started. They have their own terms and...

Forms

wizards

Synonyms

witch mage sorcerer

Related

illusionist mage magi necromancer warlock witch

Derived

archwizard bewizard grand wizard half-wizard hedge wizard white wizard Wizard Book wizardess wizard hat wizardling wizardly wizard mode wizard rock wizardry

Verb

  1. To practice wizardry.
  2. To conjure.

Forms

wizards wizarding wizarded