หมอดู

Explanation

The word is formed from หมอ and ดู. Although หมอ by itself usually means “doctor,” it can also refer to a person skilled in a particular practice when used in a compound. ดู means “to look” or “to see.” Together, หมอดู means “fortune teller.” It is an everyday term that does not specify the method used; the person might practice astrology, palm reading, card reading, or another form of divination. The classifier for counting fortune tellers is คน.

Usage

It is commonly used when discussing consultations about relationships, marriage, careers, finances, health, or the future. Frequent patterns include ไปหาหมอดู, “go to see a fortune teller,” and หมอดูบอกว่า…, “the fortune teller said that….” It is also common in everyday conversation, social media, and entertainment.

Caution

หมอดู refers to the person who tells fortunes, while ดูดวง refers to the act of having or telling a fortune. It is also not the same as ร่างทรง, a spirit medium believed to serve as a vessel for a spirit.

1 fortune teller synonyms

• ผู้พยากรณ์

  ผู้พยากรณ์ is a more formal and broader term for someone who predicts or forecasts, and it may be used outside fortune-telling. หมอดู specifically refers to a person who tells fortunes.

• โหร

  โหร usually refers more specifically to an astrologer and has a traditional or specialized tone. หมอดู is the more general term and can refer to practitioners of many kinds of fortune-telling.