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
  • Gemma even winds up having to give a teeth cleaning to one of the silent, creepy ghouls pursuing her.
    — Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 21 Aug. 2026
  • 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
Definition of ghouls
Noun
  • The cultural demons a 34-year-old playwright was conjuring a century ago rise up as dark reflections for our own.
    — Sara Holdren, Vulture, 5 Oct. 2026
  • Merry banqueters on the rear wall appeared unaware of the demons crawling up the side wall, as though ready to burst into the chamber itself.
    — Jacqueline Ortoleva, Scientific American, 3 Oct. 2026
Definition of demons
Noun
  • Both phantoms were packed with thousands of dosimeters, tracking radiation dose over specific phases of the flight rather than just a cumulative total.
    — Jacek Krywko, ArsTechnica, 13 Aug. 2026
  • The two phantoms were designed to be adult females, since previous research found that breasts and ovaries are especially susceptible to radiation damage.
    — Charles Q. Choi, Space.com, 12 Aug. 2026
Definition of phantoms
Noun
  • The mayor is missing, the mafia is involved, a mad scientist rules the basement and all the prostitutes are vampires.
    — Todd Martens, Los Angeles Times, 1 Oct. 2026
  • Ghosts have gone more mainstream than vampires, no longer grouped with the other weird freaks— the zombies and the werewolves, that paranormal genre once ascribed only to lovers of the macabre.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of vampires
Noun
  • After being acquitted on a technicality, the former leader encounters the ghosts of Mayan genocide victims as protests break out throughout the country in response to the verdict.
    — Carlos De Loera, Los Angeles Times, 5 Oct. 2026
  • As life moves on, ghosts remain The suit against Fox filed by Zakrzewski's widow, Michelle Ross-Stanton, is still winding its way through the British legal system.
    — David Folkenflik, NPR, 4 Oct. 2026
Definition of ghosts
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
  • 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
  • An emphasis on local artisans can be seen in everything from the restaurant’s clay tableware to the spirits used in The Bar’s impressive craft cocktail list.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 6 Oct. 2026
  • While looks at the show leaned into the designer’s ethereal, romantic spirits, this was also an exercise in literary self-portraiture.
    — Anna Cafolla, Vogue, 4 Oct. 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 8 Oct. 2026.

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