shaman
noun
sha·man
| \ ˈshä-mən
, ˈshā- also shə-ˈmän\
, ˈshā- also shə-ˈmän\
plural shamans
Definition of shaman
1
: a priest or priestess who uses magic for the purpose of curing the sick, divining the hidden, and controlling events
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Other Words from shaman
shamanic
\ shə-ˈma-nik
, -ˈmä- \
adjective
, -ˈmä- \
adjective
Examples of shaman in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Reaching the border with Tibet, Alexandra and Yongden lived among the monks and shamans of Kumbum Monastery for three years. — Ailsa Ross, Longreads, "Mountains, Transcending," 9 Aug. 2019 The last visibly practicing shamans were in N.K.V.D. custody. — Bathsheba Demuth, The New Yorker, "When the Soviet Union Freed the Arctic from Capitalist Slavery," 15 Aug. 2019 And a few doors down, a towering shaman-like figure wreathed in strings of multicolored beads cradles a conch close to his mouth, eyes closed. — Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, "For public art in the Boston area, competing interests and big questions," 27 July 2019 On the day research clones were planted in Tacy’s field, shortly after Mother’s Day, shamans came to tap drums and bless the plants. — Mackensy Lunsford, chicagotribune.com, "Women leading way as hemp revival sweeps North Carolina," 23 July 2019 New shamans are modifying the traditional ayahuasca rituals. — The Economist, "Indigenous Colombians fear losing their hallucinogenic brews," 14 June 2019 In that film, which was based on historical documents and set in the Colombian Amazon, a shaman befriends two white explorers over the course of four decades, seeing both as embodiments of the same colonialist Western soul in need of healing. — WSJ, "‘Birds of Passage’ Review: Splendor and the Grass," 14 Feb. 2019 Roky Erickson was in many ways an ideal candidate to become a monetized modern shaman. — Tom Maxwell, Longreads, "Remembering Roky Erickson," 7 June 2019 The bag contains about two dozen teeth, which the shaman says are from Andean bears. — National Geographic, "Poaching threatens South America's only bear species," 31 May 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'shaman.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for shaman
shaman
noun
English Language Learners Definition of shaman
: someone who is believed in some cultures to be able to use magic to cure people who are sick, to control future events, etc.
See the full definition for shaman in the English Language Learners Dictionary
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