Muggle

muggle English thumb|250px|4, Privet Drive, where Harry Potter (character) Harry Potter is raised by Muggles: Vernon Dursley and his wife Petunia (Harry's aunt), who have a son named Dudley, also a Muggle. Etymology en :af mug -le<id:diminutive> + From en mug gullible or easily cheated person le diminutive suffix, en J. K. Rowling British author 1 in her 1997 book Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. She later said in a 2004 interview that the word was made to imply both "foolishness and loveability".en http://www.accio-quote.org/articles/2004/0304-wbd.htm JK Rowling's World Book Day Chat 4 March 2004 Accio Quote! I was looking for a word that suggested both foolishness and loveability. The word 'mug' came to mind, for somebody gullible, and then I softened it. I think 'muggle' sounds quite cuddly. w:J. K. Rowling https://web.archive.org/web/20260818203214/https://www.accio-quote.org/articles/2004/0304-wbd.htm 18 August 2026 Pronunciation en /ˈmʌɡl̩/ en En-au-muggle.ogg AU en ʌɡəl 2 en Mug gle Noun A person who has no magical abilities. en Christine Wicker Not in Kansas Anymore: A Curious Tale of How Magic is Transforming America New York, N.Y. HarperSanFrancisco 2005 194 978-0-06-072678-2 The magical and the muggle are separated by a river, wide and deep. I could see across, but I couldn't get across, [...]. en Kirkus Reviews, review of Charlotte Haptie, Otto and the Bird Charmers w:Dow Jones 1 April 2005 Once again, THE magic-working Karmidee, marginalized by THE Muggle-ish Normals, are threatened by a coup in THE city's government [...] en w:Felix Cheong Age-old sexism still pervades films about witches and wizards Channel NewsAsia 19 August 2005 In her second outing as a witch — the first being Practical Magic (1998) — Nicole Kidman plays Isabel, a witch who's trying to settle down to the Muggle life of a suburban housewife. en Jeffrey Weiss Review of Christine Wicker, Not in Kansas Anymore w:The Dallas Morning News 30 September 2005 It could all be deadly earnest if she didn't have a sense of humor. My favorite sentence is a chapter title: "Every time you hear a bell, a Muggle has turned magical." en Lesley Oldfield Family break a eureka moment w:Sunday Sun Newcastle upon Tyne w:Reach plc 11 November 2007 0039-5315 750638281 As it was nearing Halloween, we were able to join a potions class where we could change liquids into myriad colours with the addition of substances like dragon spit (muggle’s lemon juice). en Gary Thompson Dylan divided by six https://www.inquirer.com/philly/entertainment/movies/20071121_Dylan_divided_by_six.html w:The Philadelphia Inquirer Philadelphia, Pa. w:The Philadelphia Inquirer, LLC 21 November 2007 0885-6613 1098360395 There's another guy playing [Bob] Dylan as a formal poet facing some kind of muggle inquisition, but this is the movie's briefest and least consequential thread. https://web.archive.org/web/20250818230803/https://www.inquirer.com/philly/entertainment/movies/20071121_Dylan_divided_by_six.html 18 August 2025 en by extension A person who lacks a particular ability or skill; a non-specialist; also a person who is not a member of a group; an outsider or cowan. en Thesaurus:mainstreamer en This video game won’t appeal to muggles. en There are too many flashing lights nowadays for a knight of the road … Nursing Standard 14 May 2003 [...] I have finally worked out that the word ECNALUBMA in back-to-front writing translates as 'get out of my way, you Muggle motorist'. en David Harvie; Ben Trott; Keir Milburn Shut Them Down!: The G8, Gleneagles 2005 and the Movement of Movements Leeds, West Yorkshire Dissent!; Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.: Autonomedia 2005 343 978-0-9552065-0-4 Some activists might know little of this ‘exterior’, such is their facility to move between activist spaces and places without having to encounter the ever-increasingly one-dimensional world in which the ‘muggles’ live. en https://aceadmiral.wordpress.com/2021/10/31/why-is-no-one-talking-about-the-tip-of-the-spear-an-reading-of-asexual-academy-through-skopos-theory/ A Hand-Painted China Plate at a Barbeque But to me, remembering what it was like to be a beginner is also an exercise in humility. I see a lot of people wanting to push ahead, faster, in all directions, and I find this to be… woefully out of step with even the Muggles who know me, Why is no one talking about the tip of the spear?: An reading of the asexual academy through Skopos Theory 2021-10-31 Ace Admiral [username] 2021-11-02 WordPress https://web.archive.org/web/20260510104952/https://aceadmiral.wordpress.com/2021/10/31/why-is-no-one-talking-about-the-tip-of-the-spear-an-reading-of-asexual-academy-through-skopos-theory/ 10 May 2026 en geocaching A person not involved in the pastime of geocaching. en Joel McNamara Geocaching for Dummies w:For Dummies Hoboken, N.J. Wiley 2004 125 978-0-7645-7571-6 At some point when you're out geocaching, you'll run into Muggles. The trouble with Muggles is they have no idea what the sport of geocaching is all about. If they see you find a cache, they might get into the cache after you leave—to see what you were up to. en Wisconsin Natural Resources Madison, Wis. w:Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources 2006 89 0736-2277 2848413 Try not to let the muggles see you find a Cache. en Paul Gillin; Dana Gillin Appendix A: Glossary The Joy of GeocachingHow to Find Health, Happiness and Creative Energy through a Worldwide Treasure Hunt Fresno, Calif. Quill Driver Books 2010 235 https://books.google.com/books?id=cT1KR6oZX9MC&pg=PA235 978-1-884956-99-7 Use Stealth. Commonly used in a place with a high muggle-to-geocacher ratio. en Selina Powell The hidden world of geocaching in Marlborough https://web.archive.org/web/20200516191540/https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/themes/adventure/76680649/the-hidden-world-of-geocaching-in-marlborough 16 May 2020 w:Marlborough Express reproduced on Stuff Blenheim, New Zealand Stuff 16 February 2016 1170-070X 173333254 Each time we made a find [Teresa] Hinton would check there were no muggles, or non-geocachers, around before taking the container from its hiding place. en Joseph Smith The ‘dead drop’ in Stokes Croft may be more than it appears https://web.archive.org/web/20180210005734/https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/dead-drop-stokes-croft-more-1170510 10 February 2018 w:Bristol Post Bristol, Somerset w:Reach plc 6 February 2018 2052-9473 1065304350 Caches can be hidden in a disguised container, or very small package, and one element of difficulty is hiding caches in urban locations, where the hunter will have to avoid being spotted by ‘muggles’ – the name given to those unaware of the sport. Muggles will be surprised at the scale of the secret game taking place under their noses. Usage notes In the Fantastic Beasts movies, it is revealed that in the United States, a muggle is called a 'no-maj' (= no magic). Alternative forms en muggle Translations person who has no magical abilities Arabic: ar مَغَل m, ar مَغَل m, ar مَجَل m Egyptian spelling Belarusian: be магл m Bengali: bn মাগোল Bulgarian: bg мъ́гъл m Catalan: ca Muggle m Chinese: Mandarin: cmn 麻瓜 máguā Czech: cs Mudla m Dutch: nl dreuzel m Esperanto: eo moglo Estonian: et Mugu Finnish: fi jästi French: fr moldu m, fr moldue f, fr non-magique Georgian: ka მაგლი German: de Muggel m Greek: el Μύγαλος m, el Μαγκλ m Hebrew: he מוּגְל m muggl Hindi: hi मगलू Hungarian: hu Muglik Icelandic: is Muggi m Irish: ga Mugal m Italian: it babbano m, it babbana f Japanese: ja マグル maguru Korean: ko 머글 Latin: la Muggle m Lithuanian: lt Žiobaras m Macedonian: mk магл m Norwegian: no gomp m Persian: fa مشنگ mašang Polish: pl mugol m Portuguese: pt Muggle m Portugal, pt trouxa m Brazil Romanian: ro Încuiat m, ro Încuiată f movies, ro Mageamiu books Russian: ru магл m, ru просте́ц m, ru маггл m Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: sh нормалац m, sh безјак m Latin: sh normalac m, sh bezjak m Slovak: sk mukel m Slovene: sl bunkelj m Spanish: es muggle m Swedish: sv mugglare c Thai: th มักเกิ้ล mákgêrn Turkish: tr muggle Ukrainian: uk маґл m, uk магл m Vietnamese: vi Muggle person who lacks a particular ability or skill amateur References Further reading n.4 1 254297 March 2003 1; muggle n en terms derived from Harry Potter en Fictional characters Harry Potter People