occult

1 of 3

verb

oc·​cult ə-ˈkəlt 

ä-

occulted; occulting; occults

transitive verb

: to shut off from view or exposure : cover, eclipse

the light of a star that was about to be occulted … by Uranus itself

—Jonathan Eberhart

occulter noun

occult

2 of 3

adjective

oc·​cult ə-ˈkəlt 

ä-;

ˈä-ˌkəlt 

1

: not revealed : secret

deep subterranean occult jealousy

—J. C. Powys

2

: not easily apprehended or understood : abstruse, mysterious

occult matters like nuclear physics, radiation effects and the designing of rockets

—Robert Bendiner

3

: hidden from view : concealed

occult underground passages

4

: of or relating to the occult

… the occult arts—astrology, palmistry, card reading …

—Amy Fine Collins

occult practices

5

: not manifest or detectable by clinical methods alone

occult carcinoma

also : not present in macroscopic amounts

occult blood in a stool

occultly adverb

occult

3 of 3

noun

oc·​cult ə-ˈkəlt 

ä-;

ˈä-ˌkəlt 

: matters regarded as involving the action or influence of supernatural or supernormal powers or some secret knowledge of them

—used with the

Synonyms

Verb

• belie
• blanket
• blot out
• cloak
• conceal
• cover
• curtain
• disguise
• enshroud
• hide
• mask
• obscure
• paper over
• screen
• shroud
• suppress
• veil

Adjective

• arcane
• cryptic
• deep
• enigmatic
• enigmatical
• impenetrable
• inscrutable
• mysterious
• mystic
• uncanny

Examples of occult in a Sentence

Verb

occulted their house from prying eyes by planting large trees around it

the actor's private life had long been occulted by a contrived public persona

Adjective

occult practices such as magic and fortune-telling

He began to believe he had occult powers.

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

In the days before the comet became visible above the horizon, it was lost in the sun's glare but not to LASCO, which imaged it very close to the sun using its coronagraph disk to occult the sun's disk. —Jamie Carter, Forbes, 16 Oct. 2024

This almost-full moon will occult Saturn from some parts of Asia and Africa. —Jamie Carter, Forbes, 14 Oct. 2024

Adjective

There are even said to be more occult faith healers than medical doctors. —Harriet Marsden, theweek, 23 Sep. 2024

How about an occult secret society, an ancestral deal with the devil and a love triangle? —Lizz Schumer, Peoplemag, 12 June 2024

Noun

Against this was Newton’s vision—ridiculously occult, to the logical French mind—of action at a distance, with the sun moving the Earth by a mysterious pull that spread across space, the Earth then moving the moon, and the moon then moving the tides. —Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 28 Oct. 2024

The witch hunt had no basis in real occult violence. —Judy Berman, TIME, 18 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Verb

in part back-formation from occultation, in part continuing Middle English occulten "to keep secret, conceal," borrowed from Latin occultāre "to prevent from being seen, conceal, keep secret," frequentative derivative of occulere "to hide from view, conceal" — more at occult entry 2

Adjective

borrowed from Middle French & Latin; Middle French, borrowed from Latin occultus "hidden from sight, secret, esoteric," from past participle of occulere "to hide from view, conceal," from oc-, assimilated variant of ob- ob- + -culere, from a verb base *cel- "hide," going back to Indo-European *ḱel- "cover, conceal" — more at conceal

Noun

noun derivative of occult entry 2

First Known Use

Verb

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Adjective

circa 1513, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

1888, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing occult

• the occult

Kids Definition

occult

1 of 3 verb

oc·​cult ə-ˈkəlt 

ä-

: to shut off from view : cover, eclipse

occult

2 of 3 adjective

oc·​cult ə-ˈkəlt  ä- 

ˈäk-əlt

1

: beyond understanding : mysterious

2

: of or relating to supernatural forces

occult

3 of 3 noun

ə-ˈkəlt  ä- 

ˈäk-əlt

: matters thought to involve the influence of supernatural forces

Medical Definition

occult

adjective

oc·​cult ə-ˈkəlt  ˈäk-ˌəlt 

: not manifest or detectable by clinical methods alone

occult carcinoma

also : not present in macroscopic amounts

occult blood in a stool specimen

fecal occult blood testing

compare gross sense 1b