Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Of or relating to talismans.
  • adjective Possessing or believed to possess magic power.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Having the character or properties of a talisman; characteristic of a talisman; magical.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Of or pertaining to a talisman; having the properties of a talisman, or preservative against evils by occult influence; magical.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Of, relating to, or like, a talisman.
  • adjective this sense?) Having a magical protective power.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective possessing or believed to possess magic power especially protective power

Etymologies

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Examples

  • Inspired by the complex numerical relationships identified in talismanic objects or tables the Iranian artist Yahya Fiuzi creates art by interpreting the numbers as colours.

    Archive 2008-09-01 The Nag 2008

  • To my thinking, the inscriptions must have been of that so-called talismanic kind in which these weak heathen believe.

    Glyn Severn's Schooldays George Manville Fenn 1870

  • And I enjoy being a so-called talismanic figure - I love being involved and trying to make things happen for others - but more than one man is going to have to play well if we are going to beat England.

    Telegraph.co.uk - Telegraph online, Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph 2011

  • One member of his retinue said he views the Spaniard as a "talismanic" figure whose departure would alter his valuation of the club.

    Kenny Huang bid one of many offers for Liverpool, says Martin Broughton 2010

  • Roy Hodgson bemoaned the loss of his "talismanic" defender, who could be absent for up to six weeks.

    Loss of Jamie Carragher adds to Liverpool's list of absent leaders Dominic Fifield at White Hart Lane 2010

  • That evening, only a few hours ago, the officers of his staff regarded him as a kind of talismanic idol; by midnight he had become a millstone around their necks, a mere lump of carved stone ...

    Alexander Isayevich Solzhenitsyn - RIP 2008

  • A. Charles at 6: 43 seems to believe that invocation of the words "Unitary Executive Theory" works some kind of talismanic magic juju that obviates the need to actually reason out a position.

    Balkinization 2007

  • A. Charles at 6: 43 seems to believe that invocation of the words "Unitary Executive Theory" works some kind of talismanic magic juju that obviates the need to actually reason out a position.

    Balkinization 2007

  • A. Charles at 6: 43 seems to believe that invocation of the words "Unitary Executive Theory" works some kind of talismanic magic juju that obviates the need to actually reason out a position.

    Balkinization 2007

  • Then make a book, but make it what the magicians call a "talismanic" work - somehow beautiful, nicely bound on good paper etc.

    Snell-Pym » First Publishing Rights 2009

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