How to Use occult in a Sentence

occult

1 of 3 verb
  • When the moon occults Mars, the lunar mass will appear to pass in front of the red planet in the night sky.
    — Skyler Caruso, People.com, 12 Jan. 2025
  • This almost-full moon will occult Saturn from some parts of Asia and Africa.
    — Jamie Carter, Forbes, 14 Oct. 2024
  • Keep in mind, however, that many other stars not listed here will also be occulted.
    — Joe Rao, Space.com, 19 July 2025
  • In fact, the speedy planet is occulted (hidden) by the sun's disk, but of course, this event is unobservable.
    — Joe Rao, Space.com, 2 May 2026
  • During a full transit, which would last a few minutes, an Earth-size planet would occult the entire white dwarf.
    — Avi Loeb, Scientific American, 30 Oct. 2020
  • Of course, many other (fainter) stars will also be occulted during the moon's passage through the cluster.
    — Joe Rao, Space.com, 8 Oct. 2025
  • And for some lucky sky-watchers in eastern Brazil and in central and southern Africa, the moon will occult the star.
    — National Geographic, 1 May 2017
  • The view of the moon occulting Mars will be restricted to parts of Ecuador and Peru.
    — Joe Rao, Space.com, 13 June 2025
  • Of course, many other (fainter) stars will also be occulted during the moon's 2-to-3-hour passage through the cluster.
    — Joe Rao, Space.com, 9 Jan. 2025
  • During these events, the smaller lunar disk passes in front of the sun, occulting most of its surface, while leaving a sliver of its outer rim on show.
    — Anthony Wood, Space.com, 10 Feb. 2026
  • The values given are eclipse obscurations, the fraction of the Sun’s disk occulted by the Moon.
    — Michael Zeiler, Discover Magazine, 23 Feb. 2024
  • The waning crescent Moon—just 9%-lit—will occult the planet Venus, but only for those in Madagascar.
    — Jamie Carter, Forbes, 22 May 2022
  • In July, 2017, the object occulted a star, and telescopes observed its tiny shadow passing across the star.
    — Eric Berger, Ars Technica, 7 Nov. 2017
  • Then, on Sunday, June 29, the moon and Mars will be in a very close conjunction — and in some parts of the world, Mars will be briefly occulted by the moon.
    — Jamie Carter, Forbes.com, 27 June 2025
  • Below are two timetables giving local circumstances for the disappearance and reappearance of the four brightest members of the Pleiades that will be occulted.
    — Joe Rao, Space.com, 19 July 2025
  • As the disk begins to occult T Tauri North, the star's light will be filtered through the gas and dust, and begin to be absorbed at certain wavelengths by molecules within the disk.
    — Keith Cooper, Space.com, 23 Jan. 2025
  • From Korea alone, seven new projects spanning coming-of-age dramas to occult horror are seeking international co-production opportunities.
    — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 20 Sep. 2025
  • Among them were Norman Lockyer and Jules Janssen, who together studied the spectra of solar prominences that were suddenly visible around the moon’s occulting silhouette.
    — Paul M. Sutter, Scientific American, 15 Feb. 2024
  • When To See The ‘snow Moon’ Occult Regulus Just a day after the full wolf supermoon, the near-full moon will occult Regulus for about an hour, as seen from the eastern half of North America.
    — Jamie Carter, Forbes.com, 29 Jan. 2026
  • Na’s credits span new generation works from The Chaser (2008) and The Yellow Sea (2010) to occult thriller The Wailing (2016) and Thai-Korean co-production The Medium (2021).
    — Liz Shackleton, Deadline, 2 Sep. 2025

occult

2 of 3 adjective
  • He began to believe he had occult powers.
  • The problem is knowing where, in all that occult neural shrubbery, to put them.
    — Adam Rogers, Wired, 24 Nov. 2021
  • In episode five, Pat goes to see a Wiccan, who's an expert on all things occult.
    — Lauren Huff, EW.com, 27 Mar. 2022
  • While occult themes are common in genres such as hard rock and metal, the indie rock world at the time was far less open-minded.
    — Washington Post, 26 Feb. 2021
  • Misael recalled that prayer sessions with Flordelis were tinged with occult practices.
    — Jon Lee Anderson, The New Yorker, 7 June 2021
  • The shop offers a broad range of medicinal herbs, oils, teas and incenses, as well as occult and sacred items.
    — John MacCormack, ExpressNews.com, 7 Aug. 2020
  • Twice in recent months, I’ve been gripped by the almost occult power of early Glass.
    — Elizabeth Kolbert, The New Yorker, 9 Aug. 2021
  • For $500, that bought a month’s worth of mentoring on various crafts and occult practice.
    — Eileen Kelley, sun-sentinel.com, 27 Aug. 2020
  • When doctors prove useless, Reverend Gwyon invokes occult powers to save his son.
    — Christopher Beha, Harper's Magazine, 27 Oct. 2020
  • Whether or not Fox was really serious about the occult celebration, people have thoughts.
    — Macaela MacKenzie, SELF, 13 Jan. 2022
  • The rest of the movie settles into something more like a slice-of-life docudrama, with occasional occult elements.
    — Noel Murray, Los Angeles Times, 5 Mar. 2021
  • There’s so much of the show that does reference specific biblical passages or occult literature.
    — Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 22 June 2021
  • The discovery of a document detailing the occult activities of an old abbess suddenly launches us on a grail quest.
    — Merve Emre, The New Yorker, 21 Dec. 2020
  • It's been a while since Titans last explored its occult side, or the demonic heritage of Raven (Teagan Croft).
    — Christian Holub, EW.com, 19 Oct. 2022
  • Driving through West Texas oil country at night felt like stumbling into some dark occult ritual uninvited.
    — Emily Pennington, Outside Online, 26 Apr. 2020
  • Not in dark occult ceremonies or mysterious lyrics devoted to Lord Satan.
    — Bob Larsen, SPIN, 12 Feb. 2022
  • Crystals, sage, sacred herbs, incantations -- the material aspects of the occult appeal to one's senses.
    — Neelam Bohra and Aj Willingham, CNN, 19 Aug. 2021
  • From the early Middle Ages through the eighteenth century, thinkers recorded their sense that profound, perhaps even occult, teachings were lurking there.
    — The New Yorker, 22 Nov. 2021
  • At just over 300 pages, the book is a lean and macabre page-turner, as del Toro and Hogan spare no bloody details in describing heinous murders and occult rituals.
    — Patrick Ryan, USA TODAY, 4 Aug. 2020
  • His latest, Undine, is an occult love story, drawing on a classic of German Romanticism.
    — J. Hoberman, The New York Review of Books, 30 May 2021
  • Censorship watchdog groups at the time said challenges often claimed books promoted anti-Christian, satanic or occult beliefs.
    — oregonlive, 27 Apr. 2022
  • Mexico City is home to multiple markets, but Mercado de Sonara is one of the few that sells occult products alongside pinatas, home goods, and fresh cactus.
    — Megan Wood, Travel + Leisure, 8 June 2023
  • In this story, an occult Satanic cabal has corrupted the world, and only a strong Christian leader can take back the kingdom of heaven by any means necessary.
    — Steven Monacelli, Rolling Stone, 1 Dec. 2021
  • The setting of her new novel, Lapvona—a vaguely occult feudal village besieged by bandits and famine—allows Moshfegh to dial her gore levels up to 11.
    — Jess Bergman, The New Republic, 22 June 2022
  • Like any reputable purveyor of occult tales, Mezzocchi is careful to present his details in a way that is vivid enough to unsettle but not so precise as to raise disqualifying objections.
    — Los Angeles Times, 3 May 2021
  • But Bravin balanced the occult imagery with Facebook and Instagram posts assuring fans that the club’s sense of freedom was rigorously guarded.
    — Los Angeles Times, 21 Mar. 2021
  • Knowledge of these symbols, whose original meanings were lost, gave the incantations an occult quality that tapped into a powerful sense of the ancient, mysterious and unknown.
    — John Last, Smithsonian Magazine, 31 Oct. 2022
  • Screens and machines have since been banished, making way for a kind of old-world mysticism of sparkling dust, psychedelic lights and occult symbols — like a third eye, superimposed over the pubic triangle of the most enlightened.
    — Peter Debruge, Variety, 3 June 2022
  • But that doesn’t mean Tobias Forge, the creative mastermind behind the occult-rock band Ghost, can’t appreciate the religion’s artistic and cultural beauty.
    — Joseph Hudak, Rolling Stone, 8 Mar. 2022
  • While the previous video shows a hooded Welch kidnapping a man from the room and later snapping his neck in an occult ritual, the new video shows the 35-year-old musician twirling, stomping and chanting with her group of female disciples.
    — Hannah Dailey, Billboard, 7 Mar. 2022

occult

3 of 3 noun
  • But these ancient tools of the occult are so much more than that.
    — Lizz Schumer, Good Housekeeping, 4 Oct. 2022
  • There’s something a little bit occult about it.
    — Leo Barraclough, Variety, 9 May 2026
  • His mind is a tangle of occult connections, a rat king of red thread.
    — Hari Kunzru, Harpers Magazine, 27 Jan. 2026
  • There’s a cursed avant-garde horror movie that may be an occult ritual.
    — Neil McRobert, Vulture, 16 Oct. 2025
  • The mask is fashioned from the one made famous by the Swedish occult rock band Ghost.
    — Domenica Bongiovanni, Indianapolis Star, 9 Sep. 2017
  • Detective and occult or thriller themes in movies and books are engrossing.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 19 May 2020
  • Opened by two former fashion designers, the vibe is avant-garde occult.
    — Monica Corcoran Harel, Travel + Leisure, 16 Oct. 2023
  • They could be mistaken for the participants in a séance — but the occult forces are not all on their side.
    — Deborah Young, The Hollywood Reporter, 30 Sep. 2019
  • Spooky season may have passed, but the occult obeys no laws of man, calendar included.
    — Lizz Schumer, Good Housekeeping, 5 Dec. 2022
  • The tabloids go occult, explaining death after death through the logic of the Kennedy curse.
    — Doreen St. Félix, New Yorker, 14 Feb. 2026
  • But the town was filled with rumors about Satanism, devil worship, and the occult.
    — Felix Gillette, Fortune, 7 Nov. 2022
  • When the killer rises from his grave, Watson and Holmes are thrown into the world of the occult.
    — Chaise Sanders, Country Living, 2 Aug. 2022
  • Think more classic Gothic horror than ghastly over-the-top occult.
    — Los Angeles Times, 17 Mar. 2022
  • The setting also lends itself to the sinister, with hints of the occult and ghosts roaming the halls at nights.
    — Amy MacKelden, ELLE, 7 Oct. 2022
  • Jazz-age eccentrics like Aleister Crowley took it as a direct line to the occult.
    — The Economist, 28 June 2019
  • As Kurlander makes clear, the Nazis’ racial and occult obsessions did not come out of nowhere.
    — Andrew Stuttaford, National Review, 23 Sep. 2017
  • Thanks to Ambrose's compass, which is able to find occult items, the two were able to find the crown in a tree in the Riverdale woods.
    — Tamara Fuentes, Seventeen, 24 Jan. 2020
  • Now the Braves have me over here consulting the internet occult instead.
    — Tyler Estep, AJC.com, 4 Mar. 2026
  • The cards have a lovely touch of the occult about them, as if a fortune-teller were pointing up secret connections.
    — Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 10 Nov. 2020
  • But all of the props, vintage occult books and divination tools have value, probably for someone on your list.
    — Trevor Fraser, orlandosentinel.com, 27 Nov. 2019
  • By the mid-1930s, any mention of the occult was banned in Nazi Germany.
    — Mike Postalakis, SPIN, 1 Mar. 2022
  • Grave Season's occult elements are creepy.
    — Jacqueline Goldblatt, PC Magazine, 13 June 2026
  • Why can't everyone see the moon occult Regulus?
    — Anthony Wood, Space.com, 22 May 2026
  • Of course, witchcraft, Wicca, and the occult never really went away.
    — Wired, 30 Oct. 2019
  • Even the communication medium of the internet is ripe for the occult.
    — Emma Grey Ellis, WIRED, 3 Apr. 2018
  • The show will be a coming-of-age story that has tons of horror, the occult and, and plenty of witchcraft (obviously).
    — Noelle Devoe, Seventeen, 19 Mar. 2018
  • There’s no survivalist plot here, but there are many, many references to the occult—and a brilliantly nonlinear sense of time.
    — Hayley Maitland, Vogue, 22 Jan. 2022
  • If Wishes Could Kill, with its clever mix of teen drama, tech horror, and occult mystery, stands to break the curse.
    — Kayti Burt, Time, 24 Apr. 2026
  • Oh and also, there are cults, cannibalism, and all kinds of other strange detours into the occult to make the mystery even deeper.
    — Andrew Webster, The Verge, 13 Jan. 2023
  • But Reagan’s embrace of the Religious Right made up for his dalliances with the occult.
    — Jared Yates Sexton, The New Republic, 25 Mar. 2020

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'occult.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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