Dictionary

witch-hunt en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• /ˈwɪtʃhʌnt/ (UK)

Etymology

From witch + hunt.

Meanings

1. (historical) A search for people believed to be using sorcery or harmful magic, typically in order to persecute or punish them.
   • The rupturing of British rule over India in the rebellion of 1857 permitted a great witch-hunt, with lethal effects, to occur among the tribes of northern India. 2017, Ronald Hutton, The Witch, Yale University Press, published 2018, page 27:
   • Simpkins told us that before the days of English witch hunts, the coven organised public and popular festivities such as on the great days of May Eve, Hallowe'en, Candlemas and Lammas. These were called Witches' Sabbats or Frolics. 1965, Attila Zohar, Kings Cross Black Magic, Sydney: Horwitz Publications, page 71:
   • To-night ye will see. It is the great witch-hunt, and many will be smelt out as wizards and slain. 1885, H. Rider Haggard, King Solomon's Mines:
2. (broadly, figuratively) An attempt to find and punish or harass a group of people perceived as a threat, usually on ideological or political grounds.
   • Rank-and-file Communists everywhere are led away on a senseless witch-hunt after 'Trotskyists'. 1938 April, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], Homage to Catalonia, London: Secker & Warburg, →OCLC:
3. (broadly, figuratively) A public or political campaign or investigation which smears a person or group.
   • “It is striking how poorly his usual playbook will work for the Epstein files debacle,” Ford wrote, adding that Trump “cannot credibly claim that he is the victim of some kind of ‘witch hunt,’ even though he is trying to do so.” 2025 July 22, Jennifer Bowers Bahney, “'Struggling' Trump spirals as 'usual playbook' fails to get him out of jam: report”, in Raw Story:
   • The media is really on a witch-hunt against me. False reporting, and plenty of it - but we will prevail! 2016 May 15, Donald Trump, tweet quoted in 2019, Lindy West, The Witches Are Coming, Hachette Books
   • Even fewer people could believe that the UNCW administration would actually undertake a witch hunt against me, even going so far as to invoke their right to read my personal e-mails because they were on the university's system. 2008, Mike Adams, Feminists Say the Darndest Things: A Politically Incorrect Professor Confronts "Womyn" on Campus, Penguin, →ISBN:
   • I defended myself vigorously on that complaint as well; also mentioning that Julie Ann Wilks had always disliked me and had been conducting “a witch hunt” against me. As soon as I said the words “witch hunt” Katy interrupted and wouldn't let me continue […] 2012, Hugh Maguire, My First 40 Jobs: A Memoir, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 308:

Forms

Relateds

witch-hunty · witch hunter · witch-hunting

Translations (63)

ru охо́та на ведьм (campaign to punish dissident persons) · sh лов на вјештице (campaign to punish dissident persons) · hu boszorkányüldözés (campaign to punish dissident persons) · ru охо́та на ведьм (persecution of persons believed to be using magic) · ar مُطَارَدَةُ السَّاحِرَاتِ (persecution of persons believed to be using magic) · th การล่าแม่มด (campaign to punish dissident persons) · ms memburu ahli sihir (persecution of persons believed to be using magic) · fr chasse aux sorcières (campaign to punish dissident persons) · cmn 獵女巫 /猎女巫 (persecution of persons believed to be using magic) · no heksejakt (persecution of persons believed to be using magic) · hy վհուկների որս (persecution of persons believed to be using magic) · hu boszorkányüldözés (persecution of persons believed to be using magic) · et nõiajaht (persecution of persons believed to be using magic) · vo magivanayag (persecution of persons believed to be using magic) · ko 마녀사냥 (campaign to punish dissident persons) · no heksejakt (campaign to punish dissident persons) · tr cadı avı (persecution of persons believed to be using magic) · pl polowanie na czarownice (persecution of persons believed to be using magic) · sv häxjakt (persecution of persons believed to be using magic) · cmn 獵巫 /猎巫 (persecution of persons believed to be using magic) · es caza de brujas (campaign to punish dissident persons) · sh lov na vještice (persecution of persons believed to be using magic) · be палява́нне на ве́дзьмаў (persecution of persons believed to be using magic) · sh lov na vještice (campaign to punish dissident persons) · fr chasse aux sorcières (persecution of persons believed to be using magic) · it caccia alle streghe (persecution of persons believed to be using magic) · hy վհուկների որս (campaign to punish dissident persons) · fi noitavaino (persecution of persons believed to be using magic) · sv häxjakt (campaign to punish dissident persons) · el κυνήγι μαγισσών (persecution of persons believed to be using magic) · pt caça às bruxas (persecution of persons believed to be using magic) · nl heksenjacht (persecution of persons believed to be using magic) · sh lov na veštice (persecution of persons believed to be using magic) · fi noitavaino (campaign to punish dissident persons) · vo jimagivanayag (persecution of persons believed to be using magic) · de Hexenjagd (persecution of persons believed to be using magic) · ca caça de bruixes (campaign to punish dissident persons) · cs hon na čarodějnice (persecution of persons believed to be using magic) · nl heksenjacht (campaign to punish dissident persons) · pl polowanie na czarownice (campaign to punish dissident persons) · de Hexenjagd (campaign to punish dissident persons) · th การล่าแม่มด (persecution of persons believed to be using magic) · ja 魔女狩り (persecution of persons believed to be using magic) · it caccia alle streghe (campaign to punish dissident persons) · sh лов на вештице (persecution of persons believed to be using magic) · sh лов на вјештице (persecution of persons believed to be using magic) · ro vânătoare de vrăjitoare (persecution of persons believed to be using magic) · vo himagivanayag (persecution of persons believed to be using magic) · el κυνήγι μαγισσών (campaign to punish dissident persons) · pt caça às bruxas (campaign to punish dissident persons) · es caza de brujas (persecution of persons believed to be using magic) · mk лов на вештерки (persecution of persons believed to be using magic) · id perburuan penyihir (persecution of persons believed to be using magic) · da heksejagt (persecution of persons believed to be using magic) · da heksejagt (campaign to punish dissident persons) · ms penyihir memburu (persecution of persons believed to be using magic) · ca caça de bruixes (persecution of persons believed to be using magic) · sh lov na veštice (campaign to punish dissident persons) · uk полюва́ння на ві́дьом (persecution of persons believed to be using magic) · sh лов на вештице (campaign to punish dissident persons) · bg лов на вещици (persecution of persons believed to be using magic) · ko 마녀사냥 (persecution of persons believed to be using magic) · cmn 政治迫害 (campaign to punish dissident persons)

witch-hunt en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• /ˈwɪtʃhʌnt/ (UK)

Etymology

From witch + hunt.

Meanings

1. (figuratively, informal, transitive) To aggressively pursue, investigate, or persecute individuals or groups based on unsubstantiated accusations, often driven by fear, ideology, political expediency, moral panic, etc.

Forms

Relateds

McCarthyism · harassment · cancel culture · Salem · peine forte et dure