Refers to a female witch or woman with magical powers, especially in fairy tales, fantasy, legends, and similar contexts.
There is a legend that a witch lives deep in the forest.
In the story, the princess was cursed by a witch.
The princess was cursed by a witch and kept sleeping.
In the story, the witch flew through the sky on a broom.
The hero defeated the witch of the forest.
魔女 is a woman with dark or feared magical power, while 聖女 is a holy, saintly woman, the good counterpart in fairy tales and legends.
Used for people in formal or counting-salutation contexts; for a character like 魔女, this is usually only if referring to a person as a person.
Standard kanji spelling for 'witch'; this is the only written form.
A Sino-Japanese compound written with 魔, associated with demons or magic, and 女, 'woman'; the spelling directly reflects the meaning 'witch' or 'female magic user.'