witch doctor

noun

1. a person in some societies who attempts to cure sickness and to exorcise evil spirits by the use of magic.

witch doctor

noun

1. Also calledshamanmedicine man a man in certain societies, esp preliterate ones, who appears to possess magical powers, used esp to cure sickness but also to harm people
2. a person who seeks out or hunts witches in some African tribal cultures

Word History and Origins

Origin of witch doctor¹

First recorded in 1710–20

Example Sentences

Isn't that a kind of witch doctor, discarded by society with the dawn of modern medicine?

From The Daily Beast

Making initial moves toward a desired goal is all the witch doctor orders.

From The Daily Beast

Did the old witch doctor tell you something momentous that you forgot to pass on to me?

From Project Gutenberg

Some dark villainy underlay this, and that the witch doctor was connected with it was borne in upon my mind without a doubt.

From Project Gutenberg

The witch doctor simply refused to speak at all, but the young men jeered.

From Project Gutenberg

Not yet would I reveal to Aïda the horrible fate to which the repulsive superstition of the witch doctor had consigned her.

From Project Gutenberg

He, like Major Sewin, the witch doctor had gradually imbued with a taste for the occult.

From Project Gutenberg