banshees

noun

plural of banshee
as in ghouls
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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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 banshees His bronc riders look more like pietàs in mud; his barrel racers scream like banshees on horseback. — Casey Cep, New Yorker, 6 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for banshees
  1. ghouls
  2. demons
  3. phantoms
  4. vampires
  5. ghosts
  6. wraiths
  7. apparitions
  8. spirits
Noun
  • Night of the Living Dead centers all the action at a farmhouse, where seven people attempt to ward off the ghouls — without any prior knowledge of how to do so.
    — Wesley Stenzel, Entertainment Weekly, 5 June 2026
  • Created by a number of its stars, Ghosts originated on the BBC in 2019, following a group of ghouls from different historical periods haunting a country house while sharing the house with its new living occupants.
    — Max Goldbart, Deadline, 25 Mar. 2026
Definition of ghouls
Noun
  • But Jesus eventually heals the man and casts the demons into a herd of pigs, which tumble over a cliff and drown.
    — John Blake, CNN Money, 2 Aug. 2026
  • The show followed Buffy Summers, played by Sarah Michelle Gellar, as a high school student who also saves the world from vampires and demons.
    — Rachel Burchfield, InStyle, 31 July 2026
Definition of demons
Noun
  • Such a designation, evidently, would save agents from wasting time chasing phantoms.
    — Adam Ciralsky, Vanity Fair, 19 Mar. 2026
  • Just in time for Halloween, the sonic phantoms that have long plagued the ladies of The View have seemingly possessed inanimate objects over on the Live With Kelly and Mark set.
    — Joey Nolfi, Entertainment Weekly, 28 Oct. 2025
Definition of phantoms
Noun
  • The show followed Buffy Summers, played by Sarah Michelle Gellar, as a high school student who also saves the world from vampires and demons.
    — Rachel Burchfield, InStyle, 31 July 2026
  • Over the course of 22 episodes, the Doomies crew encounters vampires, parasitic demons, vicious mermaids, and some spirits specific to French folklore, all rendered as real threats towards our heroes.
    — Wilson Chapman, IndieWire, 17 July 2026
Definition of vampires
Noun
  • Twelve-year-old Harmony is fascinated by ghosts and determined to photograph one.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 3 Aug. 2026
  • The Canadian producer/musician creates songs that feel like they’re haunted by their own ghosts, laced with intertwining echoes, tiny sonic fractures, and a palpable sense of place.
    — Brian Hiatt, Rolling Stone, 2 Aug. 2026
Definition of ghosts
Noun
  • The score by Joseph Bishara is shivery with chorales that moan like wraiths in the wind.
    — Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 30 Apr. 2026
  • The earliest depictions of slavery were already crawling with the terrible proceedings the Gothic tends to depict, from bloody whippings to family curses to the wrathful wraiths of the slain enslaved.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 20 Feb. 2026
Definition of wraiths
Noun
  • That is, until miraculous apparitions turn it into a place to be.
    — Marta Balaga, Variety, 17 July 2026
  • Today, the massive complex attracts paranormal investigators who report apparitions, voices, and other unexplained phenomena.
    — Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 15 June 2026
Definition of apparitions
Noun
  • The spirits Gu-cheon interacts with throughout the series were invisible on set.
    — Hannah Abraham, Forbes.com, 29 July 2026
  • Fatty Arbuckle’s Pub, established in 2003, is home to over 200 different whiskeys and fine spirits.
    — USA TODAY NETWORK, USA Today, 29 July 2026
Definition of spirits

Browse Nearby Words

banshee
banshees
bantam
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Cite this Entry

“Banshees.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/banshees. Accessed 5 Aug. 2026.

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