as in sorcery
the power to control natural forces through supernatural means
in the conjuring of the souls of the dead, necromancy seemed to offer human beings a means of exerting some control over an uncertain world
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Recent Examples of necromancy
Here’s Page’s step-by-step guide on how to go about medieval necromancy in a productive, yet safe, manner.
—
Jonny Thomson, Big Think, 18 Dec. 2024
The end of an era Happily for sacrificial bats and young cousins all over Europe, necromancy was waning by the end of the 18th century.
—Jonny Thomson, Big Think, 18 Dec. 2024
The history of necromancy is an interesting window into our past more broadly.
—Jonny Thomson, Big Think, 18 Dec. 2024
The act was short and provided few details about what constituted witchcraft, sorcery or necromancy.
—Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 10 Mar. 2025
After her death, Morgan even resorted to necromancy, reviving the People’s Princess (now embodied by Elizabeth Debicki) as an apparition who soothes a disconsolate Charles (Dominic West) and makes peace with a grieving but resentful Elizabeth (Imelda Staunton).
—Inkoo Kang, The New Yorker, 14 Dec. 2023
Part of my aversion arises from my own hidebound premodern Calvinist outlook, in which death is no laughing matter and necromancy is forbidden by God (see Deuteronomy 18:9-13).
—Barton Swaim, WSJ, 26 Oct. 2023
Season 8, which arrived on BritBox last month, includes a spooky Christmas tale, a bright spin on necromancy, a game show that doesn’t go according to plan (hosted by Lee Mack) and an off-kilter love story.
—Margaret Lyons, New York Times, 7 Sep. 2023
The necromancy reference and Gideon's own interest in cloning would seem to be connections to the cloning project that led to Snoke and the eventual reveal of the cloned Emperor Palpatine in The Rise of Skywalker.
—Dalton Ross, EW.com, 12 Apr. 2023
Jonny Thomson, Big Think, 18 Dec. 2024
The end of an era Happily for sacrificial bats and young cousins all over Europe, necromancy was waning by the end of the 18th century.
—Jonny Thomson, Big Think, 18 Dec. 2024
The history of necromancy is an interesting window into our past more broadly.
—Jonny Thomson, Big Think, 18 Dec. 2024
The act was short and provided few details about what constituted witchcraft, sorcery or necromancy.
—Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 10 Mar. 2025
After her death, Morgan even resorted to necromancy, reviving the People’s Princess (now embodied by Elizabeth Debicki) as an apparition who soothes a disconsolate Charles (Dominic West) and makes peace with a grieving but resentful Elizabeth (Imelda Staunton).
—Inkoo Kang, The New Yorker, 14 Dec. 2023
Part of my aversion arises from my own hidebound premodern Calvinist outlook, in which death is no laughing matter and necromancy is forbidden by God (see Deuteronomy 18:9-13).
—Barton Swaim, WSJ, 26 Oct. 2023
Season 8, which arrived on BritBox last month, includes a spooky Christmas tale, a bright spin on necromancy, a game show that doesn’t go according to plan (hosted by Lee Mack) and an off-kilter love story.
—Margaret Lyons, New York Times, 7 Sep. 2023
The necromancy reference and Gideon's own interest in cloning would seem to be connections to the cloning project that led to Snoke and the eventual reveal of the cloned Emperor Palpatine in The Rise of Skywalker.
—Dalton Ross, EW.com, 12 Apr. 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for necromancy
Noun
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Wakanda Forever, the series brings Riri back home to Chicago, where the lines between science and sorcery start to blur.—
Okla Jones,
Essence,
30 Mar. 2025
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Generating sophisticated charts or extracting hidden insights was a form of sorcery few dared to question.—
Florian Douetteau,
Forbes.com,
26 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Continuing in the tradition of such Disney+ witchcraft staples as the Hocus Pocus movie franchise and Marvel’s Agatha All Along, Disney Branded Television has given a pilot order to Coven Academy (woking title), a single-camera supernatural dramedy for Disney Channel and Disney+.—
Nellie Andreeva,
Deadline,
11 Mar. 2025
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The two women and their supporters are seeking a pardon, an apology and a national memorial in honor of all those accused and convicted of witchcraft during the law’s 173-year reign.—
Sarah Kuta,
Smithsonian Magazine,
10 Mar. 2025
Noun
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But for all the magic and lush imagery of the 1992 original, the live-action version is as lifeless as an unenchanted candlestick.—
Staff Author,
EW.com,
22 Mar. 2025
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Kane has a magic knack for turning slight openings into goals, as Tuchel knows as well as anyone.—
Jack Pitt-Brooke,
The Athletic,
22 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Necromancy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/necromancy. Accessed 21 Apr. 2025.
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