wizard
Pluralwizards
Pluralwizards
Formswizards, wizarding, wizarded
- 1A person, usually a man, who practices magic or is skilled in magic, magical objects, and mystical arts.
The old wizard raised his staff, and the iron gate swung open.
In the novel, young wizards study for seven years before they are trusted with a wand.
Similarsorcerer, magician, mage, warlock, conjurer
Note
Its build is plain once seen: wise plus -ard, the ending of drunkard and sluggard, so a wizard was a wise man before he was a worker of magic. It usually names a man, but present-day fantasy uses it for women too, as when a girl may grow into a more powerful wizard than her teachers.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
- Wizard was formed from wise and -ard. en.wiktionary.org
- Drunkard contains the suffix -ard. en.wiktionary.org
- Sluggard contains the suffix -ard. en.wiktionary.org
- The meaning wise man preceded the distinct meaning magic user. en.wiktionary.org
- 2A person who is exceptionally skilled or unusually talented in a particular field.
She's a wizard with numbers, so she does the family's taxes every year.
The startup hired a marketing wizard who tripled its sales in a year.
UsageOften a wizard with or a wizard at something: a wizard with numbers, a wizard at fixing cars.
- 3In computing, a program or script that makes a complex task simpler, often for inexperienced users, by leading them through it in steps.
The setup wizard walks you through choosing a language and connecting to Wi-Fi.
If the import fails, run the wizard again and check each field before clicking Next.
UsageOften in compounds such as setup wizard; you run or follow a wizard.
Similarassistant
Note
Software designers borrowed the magician for a helper that does the hard part out of sight: a wizard breaks a job into a short run of screens or tabs, each asking for only a few things, with Back and Next between them, so the user never faces every option at once. The same kind of tool is sometimes called an assistant.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts
- A software wizard divides a task into successive pages that gather user input. learn.microsoft.com
- Back and Next provide navigation through wizard pages. learn.microsoft.com
- Presenting steps separately reduces the number of options users face at once. en.wikipedia.org
Less common meanings
- 4To work magic, or to produce something by magic or as if by magic.
- 5Excellent or superb; originally Royal Air Force slang.
That was a wizard bit of flying, Johnny.
But he was a wizard flyer, that boy.
1943, Howard Macy Coffin and Walter Leslie River, Malta StorySimilarsuperb, excellent, splendid, smashing
Note
Fliers of the early 1940s used it as high praise: in Quentin Reynolds's Only the Stars Are Neutral (1942), the young leader of an Australian squadron calls a mission a wizard show.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- Fliers used wizard as praise in the early 1940s. api.pageplace.de
- Quentin Reynolds wrote Only the Stars Are Neutral, first published in 1942. openlibrary.org
- 6A 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”Note
The oldest meaning sits in the word's build: wise plus the suffix -ard, so a wizard was simply a wise man. Milton's On the Morning of Christ's Nativity calls the Magi star-led wizards hastening along the eastern road, and a modern reader is likely to hear a worker of magic there instead. In older poetry, wisdom rather than spells may be the point.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts
- Wizard is formed from wise and the suffix -ard. en.wiktionary.org
- The wise-man or sage meaning precedes the distinct magical meaning. en.wiktionary.org
- Wizard formerly meant a wise man or sage. upload.wikimedia.org
- John Milton's On the Morning of Christ's Nativity describes the Magi as star-led wizards hastening along the eastern road. en.wikisource.org
- 7Any of the people with administrative control over a multi-user dungeon, or MUD.
- 8In incel slang, sometimes humorously, a virgin over the age of 30 who does not socialize and so cannot find a sexual partner.
Showing meanings only.
Practice
Can you tell the meanings of wizard apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.
Origin
From Middle English wysard, equivalent to wise + -ard; it did not take on the distinct sense of a magic user, as opposed to a sage, until around the 1500s. Through Proto-Indo-European *weyd- it is distantly related to druid. The slang sense “old male virgin” comes from a Japanese internet meme.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts
- Wizard comes from Middle English wysard and is formed from wise plus -ard. en.wiktionary.org
- The distinct magical sense developed around the 1500s, after the sense meaning a sage. en.wiktionary.org
- Wizard and druid are distantly related through Proto-Indo-European *weyd-. en.wiktionary.org
- The slang meaning referring to an older male virgin originated in a Japanese internet meme. en.wiktionary.org