ogre

noun \ ˈō-gər \

Definition of ogre

1 :a hideous giant of fairy tales and folklore that feeds on human beings :monster

2 :a dreaded person or object

—

ogreish

play \ˈō-g(ə-)rish\ adjective

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See ogre defined for kids

Examples of ogre in a Sentence

The book portrays their father as an ogre who mistreated them.
a horror movie filled with ogres and demons of every description

Recent Examples of ogre from the Web

Prior commemoration was wiped away, thereby robbing the posthumous ogre of any legacy and hence any existence for eternity.

— victor davis hanson, National Review, "Our War against Memory," 22 Aug. 2017
People have called me an ogre and a pretentious feminist.

— sarah wu, Teen Vogue, "Model Scarlett Costello on Why She Loves Her Unibrow," 6 July 2017
Check out the nearly seven minute-long gameplay trailer above for plenty more shooting, sci-fi, and robotic space ogres or something.

— brad chacos, PCWorld, "40 must-see PC gaming gems from E3 2017: Watch every trailer," 13 June 2017
Even the royal family’s trusted faith healer Rasputin, the ogre of conventional wisdom, largely gets a pass for sagely advising the czar that war would prompt his downfall.

— gregory feifer, New York Times, "A New History Recalibrates the Villains of the Russian Revolution," 6 June 2017
A chubby kung fu-loving bear is replacing a gruff but lovable ogre at Universal Studios Hollywood.

— hugo martin, latimes.com, "Shrek is out, Kung Fu Panda is in at Universal Studios Hollywood," 5 June 2017
The ogre-faced or net-casting spiders hold their webs in their front legs and drop them onto passing insects.

— ed yong, The Atlantic, "The Spider Web That Gets Stronger When It Touches Insects," 31 May 2017
Although ideally heard with a ballet depicting the eventful folk-tale plot (there's a magical bird, a prince and princess, an ogre), a good performance of the whole score in concert is just as satisfying.

— tim smith, baltimoresun.com, "Atmosphere, virtuosity in BSO program with Markus Stenz, Juho Pohjonen," 5 May 2017
Most interestingly, the ogres do not appear in greenface — Mann and Oakley perform in their own natural skin color, wearing hats with the species' iconic tubular horns to denote ogreness.

— christopher arnott, courant.com, "An Exuberant Cast, Stand-Out Puppets Make For High-Energy 'Shrek' By CRT," 25 Apr. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'ogre.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of ogre

French, probably ultimately from Latin Orcus, god of the underworld

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1713

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ogre Synonyms

Synonyms

grotesque, grotesquerie (also grotesquery), monstrosity, monster

Related Words

ogress; Frankenstein; bête noire, bogey (also bogie or bogy), bugaboo, bugbear; banshee, bogeyman (also bogyman), demon (or daemon), devil, fiend, fright, imp, incubus; horror, terror; abomination, anathema; abnormality, freak; mutant, mutation

Other Mythology and Folklore Terms

elysian, fay, muse, nimbus, phoenix

OGRE Defined for English Language Learners

ogre

noun

Definition of ogre for English Language Learners

: an ugly giant in children's stories that eats people
: someone or something that is very frightening, cruel, or difficult to deal with

OGRE Defined for Kids

ogre

noun \ ˈō-gər \

Definition of ogre for Students

1 :an ugly giant of fairy tales and folklore who eats people

2 :a person or object that is frightening or causes strong feelings of dislike

Learn More about ogre

Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for ogre Spanish Central: Translation of ogre Nglish: Translation of ogre for Spanish speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about ogre

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ogre

Definition of ogre

ogreish

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Examples of ogre in a Sentence

Recent Examples of ogre from the Web

Origin and Etymology of ogre

ogre Synonyms

Synonyms

Related Words

Other Mythology and Folklore Terms

OGRE Defined for English Language Learners

ogre

Definition of ogre for English Language Learners

OGRE Defined for Kids

ogre

Definition of ogre for Students

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