abracadabra

[ ab-ruh-kuh-dab-ruh ]

noun

1. a mystical word or expression used in incantations, on amulets, etc., as a magical means of warding off misfortune, harm, or illness.
2. any charm or incantation using nonsensical or supposedly magical words.
3. meaningless talk; gibberish; nonsense.

abracadabra

/ ˌæbrəkəˈdæbrə /

interjection

1. a spoken formula, used esp by conjurors

noun

1. a word used in incantations, etc, considered to possess magic powers
2. gibberish; nonsense

Word History and Origins

Origin of abracadabra¹

1690–1700; < Late Latin, probably < Late Greek, perhaps reflecting recitation of the initial letters of the alphabet; abecedary

Word History and Origins

Origin of abracadabra¹

C17: from Latin: magical word used in certain Gnostic writings, perhaps related to Greek Abraxas; see abraxas

Example Sentences

At first relatively reserved, he celebrated the discovery of a spectator’s card by stomping his feet and yelling “¡CHAN-TATACHAN!” — nonsense syllables that are his personal version of “abracadabra!”

From New York Times

Put a little abracadabra in your stocking with the new special “Masters of Illusion: Christmas Magic 2021.”

From Los Angeles Times

The series’ celebrated technobabble is just a kind of reformulated abracadabra; human characters get the hang of alien gear faster than you could look up how to reset your car’s clock in the owner’s manual.

From Los Angeles Times

Jakob Galloway of Wilmington Banning might as well have shouted “abracadabra” after catching a short swing pass in a football game against Elsinore, because what happened next was magical.

From Los Angeles Times

It’s a bit of zoological abracadabra—appropriate for their genus, Magicicada.

From Scientific American