open sesame

o·pen ses·a·me

O o

Transcription

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [oh-puh n ses-uh-mee]
- /ˈoʊ pən ˈsɛs ə mi/

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [oh-puh n ses-uh-mee]
- /ˈoʊ pən ˈsɛs ə mi/

Definitions of open sesame words

noun open sesame any marvelously effective means for bringing about a desired result: Wealth is the open sesame to happiness. 1
noun open sesame a very successful means of achieving a result 0
noun open sesame magic words spoken to open the door of the thieves' den in the story of Ali Baba in The Arabian Nights 0
noun open sesame any unfailing means of gaining admission or achieving some other end 0

See all 4 definitions of open sesame

Information block about the term

Origin of open sesame

First appearance:

before 1785

One of the 44% newest English words

First recorded in 1785-95; from the use of these words by Ali Baba to open the door of the robbers' den

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Open sesame

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

Full grammatical hierarchy of Open sesame

open sesame popularity

A pretty common term. Usually people know it’s meaning, but prefer to use a more spread out synonym. About 40% of English native speakers know the meaning and use word.

According to our data about 69% of words is more used. This is a rare but used term. It occurs in the pages of specialized literature and in the speech of educated people.

open sesame usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

Synonyms for open sesame

noun open sesame

abracadabra — Abracadabra is a word that someone says when they are performing a magic trick in order to make the magic happen.
bewitchment — the state of being bewitched
conjuration — a magic spell; incantation
gobbledegook — language characterized by circumlocution and jargon, usually hard to understand: the gobbledegook of government reports.
hocus — to play a trick on; hoax; cheat.

All 12 Synonyms of open sesame