BANSHEE Synonyms: 63 Similar and Opposite Words

banshee

noun

Definition of banshee

as in demon

a female spirit in Irish and Scottish stories who cries loudly to warn people that someone is going to die soon claimed to have heard the terrifying wail of a banshee

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Dissimilar Words

angel

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of banshee The bond between a rider and their banshee doesn't break, and chances are your bond with this two-figure set won't either. — Fran Ruiz, Space.com, 19 Dec. 2025 Then, like an alarm clock, howler monkeys unleashed their banshee shriek, staking their territory as the sun rose. — Ryan Knighton, AFAR Media, 31 Oct. 2025 His bronc riders look more like pietàs in mud; his barrel racers scream like banshees on horseback. — Casey Cep, New Yorker, 6 Oct. 2025 Temperance let loose a banshee wail. — Charna Flam, People.com, 25 Aug. 2025 See All Example Sentences for banshee

Recent Examples of Synonyms for banshee

Noun

The short, sharp argument in the MacNeil kitchen is an example of the upstairs demon pervading all bodies through hate.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 30 Oct. 2026
The golden deer and the Lakshmana rekha When word of Khara’s death reaches his brother Ravana, the demon king vows revenge on Rama and Lakshmana with the assistance of Maricha (a rakshasa).

— Tamanna Nangia, Encyclopedia Britannica, 30 Oct. 2026

Definition of demon

Noun

As the frightening phantom of Frank the Bunny warns, this parallel reality has a ticking clock that’ll result in its imminent collapse in just 28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes, and 12 seconds.

— Jeff Spry, Space.com, 26 Oct. 2026
Fadal brought up her own phantom smells during a recent podcast conversation with Andrea Donsky, a nutritionist who’s written about and conducted research on this symptom.

— Maggie Ryan, Flow Space, 26 Aug. 2026

Definition of phantom

Noun

Throughout outer space lie stars and galaxies that resemble creepy creatures, spooky skulls and galactic ghouls.

— Mary Randolph, Scientific American, 31 Oct. 2026
Humanoid moths and demon babies, hitchhiking ghouls, the occasional sea monster and even a suspicious phantom kangaroo or two.

— Chicago Tribune, Chicago Tribune, 29 Oct. 2026

Definition of ghoul

Noun

Sharpless says, in the West, sleep paralysis overlapped with stories about vampires, witches, and ghosts.

— RJ Mackenzie, Popular Science, 29 Oct. 2026
Early on, her costumes evolved from classic (a dominatrix the first year, a vampire in 2005) to more complex (a skinless person in 2011) to complete cosplay.

— José Criales-Unzueta, Vanity Fair, 28 Oct. 2026

Definition of vampire

Noun

In her first sketch, Navarrette and Hernandez played the ghost of a couple of 1930s kids on the Queen Mary who keep distracting a tourist from hearing where another ghost’s treasure is hidden.

— Glenn Garner, Deadline, 31 Oct. 2026
All parties, that is, except for Oluko, who has emerged as a late-breaking villain and ghost in the machine.

— Scott Tobias, Vulture, 30 Oct. 2026

Definition of ghost

Noun

There’s not a single shot of a healthy human being in the movie, only wraiths filmed in sickly shades of pink, red and blue.

— Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 23 Sep. 2026
Pilots can see bad weather lurking in the distance hours before takeoff, glowing like a wraith on their digital maps.

— Burkhard Bilger, New Yorker, 2 Mar. 2026

Definition of wraith

Noun

The location was a former sugarcane plantation notorious for cruelty, and accounts of apparitions in the water are a reminder of this history.

— Marcus Librizzi, The Conversation, 26 Oct. 2026
After the vocal chorus, Astaire sees an apparition—Pan, costumed in Halloween drag.

— David Hajdu, Vanity Fair, 20 Oct. 2026

Definition of apparition

Noun

The boo hag Take, for instance, the boo hag, a being in Gullah Geechee folklore.

— AJ Willingham, AJC.com, 17 Oct. 2026
The sea hag in Widow’s Bay, by contrast, is a monstrous cross between Samara from The Ring, the entity from It Follows, and the lady in the bathtub from The Shining.

— Sean T. Collins, Vulture, 9 Oct. 2026

Definition of hag

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“Banshee.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/banshee. Accessed 3 Nov. 2026.

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Synonyms of banshee

noun

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