charisma

CEFRC1

/kəˈɹɪzmə/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A special personal quality that attracts and influences people.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    A gift or power of leadership or authority.

Examples

  • The attractiveness of his charisma made other people listen.

  • What she lacks in charisma she makes up for with hard work.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
4
Parts of speech
1
Synonyms
2

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. The capacity to inspire devotion or enthusiasm; personal charm.

  2. A gift or power bestowed upon a person by the Holy Spirit; a grace.

More examples

In context

  • The leader has his charisma.

  • the charisma of a popular actor

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The politician's natural blank captivated the audience, making them feel inspired and deeply connected to him.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Ancient Greek χᾰ́ρῐσμᾰ (khắrĭsmă, “grace, favour, gift”), from χᾰρῐ́ζομαι (khărĭ́zomai, “to show favor”), from χᾰ́ρῐς (khắrĭs, “grace”), from the same root χαρ- (khar-) as χαίρω (khaírō, “to be happy”). Doublet of charism. First attested in 1875. Outside of theology, as early as 1930, charisma was found in a translation of a book written by German sociologist Max Weber, which OED and Etymonline regards as a semantic loan from German Charisma, denoting the special ability of certain leaders to inspire devotion (sense 1). By the 1940s and more clearly in the 1950s, the term was used more loosely to refer to personal charm in general (sense 1.1).