Cursed means suffering from a curse: a kind of supernatural bad luck or spell that someone believes has been placed on them. In fairy tales and myths, a witch might place a curse on a prince, turning him into a beast, or an ancient treasure might be cursed so that anyone who steals it faces misfortune. The cursed prince can't break free until certain conditions are met, like finding true love or learning an important lesson.

People also use cursed more casually to describe something that seems jinxed or plagued by bad luck. After the Buffalo Bills lost four consecutive Super Bowls, fans might have jokingly believed that their favorite team was cursed. An old house where everything keeps breaking might feel cursed, even though there's no actual magic involved, just coincidence or poor maintenance.

In recent years, cursed has taken on a newer meaning: something deeply weird, unsettling, or wrong in a way that's hard to explain. A cursed image might show something bizarre that makes you uncomfortable but you can't quite say why, like a photo of someone eating a sandwich in a completely strange way.

The opposite of cursed is blessed. While cursed things bring misfortune or weirdness, blessed things bring good fortune or feel right and proper.