Definitions for witch-hunt
witch-hunt

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. witch-huntnoun

   searching out and harassing dissenters

WiktionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. witch-huntnoun

   A search witches, persons believed to be using sorcery or harmful magic, in order to persecute and typically kill them.

2. witch-huntnoun

   An attempt to find and publicly punish a group of people perceived as a threat, usually on ideological or political grounds.

3. Etymology: * witch + hunt

WikipediaRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Witch-hunt

   A witch-hunt, or a witch purge, is a search for people who have been labeled witches or a search for evidence of witchcraft. The classical period of witch-hunts in Early Modern Europe and Colonial America took place in the Early Modern period or about 1450 to 1750, spanning the upheavals of the Reformation and the Thirty Years' War, resulting in an estimated 35,000 to 50,000 executions. The last executions of people convicted as witches in Europe took place in the 18th century. In other regions, like Africa and Asia, contemporary witch-hunts have been reported from sub-Saharan Africa and Papua New Guinea, and official legislation against witchcraft is still found in Saudi Arabia and Cameroon today. In current language, "witch-hunt" metaphorically means an investigation that is usually conducted with much publicity, supposedly to uncover subversive activity, disloyalty, and so on, but with the real purpose of intimidating political opponents. It can also involve elements of moral panic or mass hysteria.

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. witch-hunt

   A witch-hunt refers to a campaign directed against a person or a group holding unorthodox or unpopular views, typically instigated by political, religious, or social forces, with the aim of discrediting, persecuting, or punishing them. The term originates from the historical witch-hunts where people were hunted down, accused, and often executed for witchcraft. In modern usage, it can also imply a frenzied, unfair investigation or series of accusations without substantial evidence.

FreebaseRate this definition:4.0 / 1 vote

1. Witch-hunt

   A witch-hunt is a search for witches or evidence of witchcraft, often involving moral panic, or mass hysteria. Before 1750 it was legally sanctioned and involving official witchcraft trials. The classical period of witchhunts in Europe and North America falls into the Early Modern period or about 1480 to 1750, spanning the upheavals of the Reformation and the Thirty Years' War, resulting in an estimated 40,000 to 60,000 executions. The last executions of people convicted as witches in Europe took place in the 18th century. In the Kingdom of Great Britain, witchcraft ceased to be an act punishable by law with the Witchcraft Act of 1735. In Germany, sorcery remained punishable by law into the late 18th century. Contemporary witch-hunts have been reported from Sub-Saharan Africa, India and Papua New Guinea. Official legislation against witchcraft is still found in Saudi Arabia and Cameroon. The term "witch-hunt" since the 1930s has also been in use as a metaphor to refer to moral panics in general. This usage is especially associated with the Second Red Scare of the 1950s, with the McCarthyist persecution of communists in the United States.

Matched Categories

1. • Harassment

How to pronounce witch-hunt?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say witch-hunt in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of witch-hunt in Chaldean Numerology is: 3

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of witch-hunt in Pythagorean Numerology is: 9

Examples of witch-hunt in a Sentence

1. Filmmaker Leslee Udwin:

   Of course, the India government ban has ensured that this film now does proliferate on the Internet, but I have to tell you I am respectful of laws, in any country, and because there is a footprint of YouTube or torrents in India, it is my duty to bring that film off those channels and that is what I do, i will not break laws. I am respectful, I am moral, I have integrity, despite the witch hunt – this Salem-like witch hunt against me by those who are more interested in hiding their shame than saving their women.

2. Donald Trump:

   First it was the Russia hoax -- then it was the Mueller witch hunt, weve been going through this from before the election took place. A bunch of bad people, and then, one of the single greatest lies ever told by anybody in this government. ... and now the absolutely crazed lunatics, the Democrats, the radical left, and their media partners standing right back there, are pushing the deranged impeachment witch hunt, for doing nothing wrong. We did nothing wrong -- and theyre doing nothing.

3. Michael Duffey:

   Now the same maniacs are pushing the deranged impeachment -- think of this : Impeachment. Impeachment. A witch hunt. ... They're pushing that impeachment witch hunt and a lot of bad things are happening to them. Because you see what's happening in the polls ? Everybody said, that's really bulls ---.

4. Alec Baldwin:

   It's not a witch hunt because a witch hunt indicates that there is very little truth, if none at all, and there is a lot of truth here, but what worries me is that this is a fire that needs constant kindling.

5. Sunny Hostin:

   His defense, I think, is going to be, ‘Well this is a witch hunt, this is a witch hunt against me, so of course I have to try to pardon myself cause every is against me,’ and guess what? 74 million people are going to believe that because they’ve been brainwashed, Joy. I really believe that they have brainwashed by this misinformation campaign over the past four years.