Magnetic describes something that has the power to attract iron and certain other metals, or more broadly, anything that powerfully draws people or things toward it.

A magnet is magnetic: it can pull paper clips across a table without touching them, or make a compass needle swing to point north. This invisible force, called magnetism, works through space and even through paper or plastic. The Earth itself is magnetic, which is why compasses work: our planet acts like a giant magnet with a magnetic field surrounding it.

But magnetic also describes people or things with an almost magical pull. A magnetic personality draws others in: when someone walks into a room and everyone naturally wants to talk to them, they have magnetic charm. A magnetic speaker holds an audience's complete attention. The word captures that feeling of being drawn to something you can't quite resist, like a paper clip sliding across a desk toward a magnet.

Scientists use magnetic technology everywhere: in electric motors, computer hard drives, MRI machines in hospitals, and magnetic levitation trains that float above their tracks. The northern lights (aurora borealis) happen when magnetic fields around Earth interact with particles from the sun, creating shimmering curtains of light in the night sky.