cursed
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
suffering from a magic spell or bad luck that causes constant trouble.
afflicted by a curse or divine harm; suffering from persistent misfortune perceived as supernatural.
Simple“The old legend says the diamond is cursed and brings bad luck to its owners.”
In context“Local folklore maintains that the castle is cursed, citing a long history of unexplained disappearances and financial ruin for every family that has resided there.”
- 02 C1 Advanced
describing something that looks very strange, wrong, or creepy in a way that makes you feel uncomfortable.
describing an image, object, or situation that is unsettling, disturbing, or aesthetically 'wrong', often used with dark humor.
Simple“That abandoned playground with the broken dolls has a very cursed energy.”
In context“The internet is full of cursed images that combine everyday objects in ways that feel deeply unnatural and disturbing to the viewer.”
Teacher's tipThis sense is very common in digital culture and social media; learners should use it to describe things that are 'weirdly wrong' rather than literally magical.
Synonyms
“His girlfriend’s in a coma, and it’s “cursed pacts with interdimensional gods” serious.”
“The victim was his lover, and their families were enemies; he is the last of his line, and fears his family is cursed.”
From Middle English cursed, cursd, curst, corsed, curset, cursyd, equivalent to curse + -ed.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.