Holofernes

noun

Ho·​lo·​fer·​nes ˌhä-lə-ˈfər-(ˌ)nēz How to pronounce Holofernes (audio)
ˌhō-
: a general of Nebuchadnezzar's who led an Assyrian army against Israel and was beheaded in his sleep by Judith

Examples of Holofernes in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Like Flock, Motz is interested in the lore of female vengeance: Judith beheading Holofernes, Medea killing her sons to spite Jason, Clytemnestra stabbing Agamemnon in the bath. Alexandra Schwartz, The New Yorker, 5 Feb. 2024 Creel revisits a final conversation with that ex just before bringing up a painting of Judith With the Head of Holofernes. Vulture, 4 Dec. 2023 The paintings tell the Old Testament story of Judith beheading Holofernes; one was made by a young Italian woman around 1612, the other by a gay Nigerian-American man in 2012. Brittanie Shey, Chron, 6 Apr. 2023 Her inspirations for the video range from Sally Potter’s Orlando (1992) and Stanley Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon (1975) to Park Chan-wook’s The Handmaiden (2016) and Caravaggio’s Judith Beheading Holofernes. Lisa Wong MacAbasco, Vogue, 19 May 2021

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'Holofernes.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Late Latin, from Greek Holophernēs

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of Holofernes was before the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near Holofernes

Cite this Entry

“Holofernes.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Holofernes. Accessed 12 Oct. 2024.

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