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Definition of wizard in English:

wizard

Pronunciation /ˈwizərd/ /ˈwɪzərd/

See synonyms for wizard

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noun

  • 1A man who has magical powers, especially in legends and fairy tales.

    ‘To do that he requires a rod of dragon control, and hopes to get his hands on the one the Empress uses to control gold dragons, offsetting the magical power of the wizards.’
    • ‘Many casters such as wizards, necromancers or enchanters were best paired with a cleric because after casting, a cleric could mend the internal wounds.’
    • ‘There were four ranks a person could be - witch or wizard, mage, enchanter or enchantress, and sorcerer or sorceress.’
    • ‘Every race has magical and non magical people, these could be wizards, witches, warlocks, sorcerers, or sorceresses.’
    • ‘All the higher wizards, mages and sorcerers were wiped out.’
    • ‘The power that wizards commanded was the stuff of legends.’
    • ‘The people of Audrill were also magical but they could not combat the power of a wizard.’
    • ‘For the first time, J.K. Rowling's novel proceeds in a manner that assumes that the reader is more or less familiar with her magical world of wizards and witchcraft.’
    • ‘A portal gate is a form of transportation used by those who possess magical abilities such as wizards or magicians.’
    • ‘Belloc then unwrapped the bundle, and Anest saw that it contained three staves of rare black oak taken from the Black Forest, a place of legend known only to wizards and the faerie creatures.’
    • ‘He's certainly going to have to be a magical wizard to put United back in the black again.’
    • ‘We want there to be Gandalfs and Elronds and Galadriels in the world, wise old wizards and sages and sorcerers who are looking out for the rest of us.’
    • ‘The eyes of the two men were held on the still hovering crystals as they once again began to pulsate with a mysterious power beyond the wizards' imaginations.’
    • ‘While reference is made to their role as teachers they most often appear as wizards, with the power to influence the elements and to predict the future.’
    • ‘The five enemy wizards felt the magical energy in the air, and knew that they were about to confront a great power.’
    • ‘Then we come along, power hungry wizards looking for the secret to immortality, and we bag you.’
    • ‘The wizards' magical attacks were slowly building to a level that would be fatal to Solomon.’
    • ‘He had only seen this on those fantasy movies about wizards and magical creatures.’
    • ‘The wizard's power was strong beneath the youthful appearance.’
    • ‘Raised by his mean aunt and uncle, he learns on his 11 th birthday that he is a wizard of uncommon powers.’
    sorcerer, warlock, male witch, magus, magician, black magician, necromancer, occultist, enchanter
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    1. 1.1A person who is very skilled in a particular field or activity.
      ‘a financial wizard’
      • ‘A Wall Street operator who was already in his fifties when he moved to London, Schechter is a prodigious talker, a showman and a financial wizard with a gift for innovation.’
      • ‘They include hoteliers, brewery giants, food specialists, financial wizards, recycling experts and transport logicists.’
      • ‘The centre-half forward, as much a wizard with an accordion as a caman, thundered the ball away from MacNiven and it sailed into the net.’
      • ‘You might even end up being just like Compton - a tall well-built hero with matinee-idol looks and a wizard with the willow.’
      • ‘A mathematical wizard with his name firmly stamped in the Limca Book of Records.’
      • ‘Acknowledged to be a wizard with the science, Javed has his own salons in many a happening place.’
      • ‘It was launched by an engineering wizard with a fascination for radio.’
      • ‘Jerry Miculek is a fine rifleman, a wizard with a shotgun and adept with any type of handgun.’
      • ‘He developed special radio frequency probes and was a wizard with an acupuncture needle.’
      • ‘The financial managers and economic wizards are happy that Pakistan has achieved a level of macro-economic stabilization, which is spectacular and unprecedented.’
      • ‘The first is that economists and financial wizards got it wrong.’
      • ‘Our house's previous owner was a wizard with perennials and it was a thrill our first spring there to watch the yard be transformed by unexpected blossoms.’
      • ‘He was a wizard with the ball and he could shoot also.’
      • ‘Another of my friends, Patrick, was a wizard with his daggers.’
      • ‘Karl Barlow was a wizard with paperwork and identity fraud.’
      • ‘The Dow continues to head south, with Alan Greenspan, the one-time wizard with the Midas touch, experiencing a torrid time.’
      • ‘Unlike my aged grandmothers, Casella is a wizard with beans, which he grows with tender care on an organic plot upstate.’
      • ‘He also found Norman Heatley, a laboratory wizard with great dexterity in micromethods.’
      • ‘He's a wizard with a wrench though, and he always helps me out with repairs.’
      • ‘Neil Hann, our production editor, is a computer wizard with the patience of Job.’
      genius, expert, master, adept, virtuoso, maestro, past master, marvel, prodigy
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  • 2Computing
    A help feature of a software package that automates complex tasks by asking the user a series of easy-to-answer questions.

    ‘A web site can have novice users, and a wizard makes complex tasks seem easy.’
    • ‘A software wizard takes users through the activation process.’
    • ‘These capabilities should be easy to configure and manage through graphical user interfaces and wizards.’
    • ‘Straightforward wizards guide users through hard disk and Internet browser cleanups.’
    • ‘Digital cameras and camcorders are well catered for, with installation wizards and simple editing software.’
    • ‘Administration of digital certificates is also handled by the graphical user interface wizard.’
    • ‘If you own a modern computer, you will know there is a maintenance wizard in your windows software.’

adjective

informal, dated British

  • Wonderful; excellent.

    • ‘how absolutely wizard!’
    • ‘I've just had a wizard idea’
    • ‘If elected, I will appoint Buni as my Shadow Education Secretary, on the strength of this wizard idea of his in Peter's comments box.’
    • ‘Bloomsbury shares would be a wizard idea for a present.’
    • ‘A wizard idea that Steven's ambitious deputy may find hard.’
    • ‘That's what someone over here said a few centuries ago and everyone thought it to be a jolly wizard idea.’
    excellent, wonderful, marvellous, magnificent, superb, splendid, glorious, sublime, lovely, delightful, first-class, first-rate, outstanding
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Origin

Late Middle English (in the sense ‘philosopher, sage’): from wise+ -ard.