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incubus

noun

Definition of incubusnext
as in demon

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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 incubus The Devil’s Museum, a satellite of the main collection, has amassed more than 3,000 depictions of demons, evil spirits and incubus from around the world. — Joe Yogerst, Forbes.com, 22 Apr. 2025 Your fame sits beside you like an incubus, and people are embarrassed and want to leave the room. — Candace Bushnell, Vogue, 23 Feb. 2025 This meaning is visualized in Henry Fuseli’s 1781 painting The Nightmare, which shows a woman sleeping peacefully on a couch while a nauseating monster—an incubus—sits portentously on her abdomen, unbeknownst to her. — Time, 28 Dec. 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for incubus
  1. demon
  2. banshee
  3. phantom
  4. ghoul
  5. imp
  6. wraith
  7. specter
  8. apparition
Noun
  • Or the fact that the Magician has recorded the group ritual through which the demon was transported into the little girl’s body on videotape.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 15 Sep. 2026
  • Oh, and a seventh-circle’s worth of personal demons which, big break or not, show no signs of giving Green a rest.
    — David Fear, Rolling Stone, 13 Sep. 2026
Definition of demon
Noun
  • Three species of bats inhabit the site, and supernatural events—including the appearance of the gamekeeper’s ghost and the wail of a banshee—have been reported.
    — Patricia Doherty, Travel + Leisure, 22 May 2026
  • Weaving, even more than before, makes Grace an ingénue gone banshee.
    — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 14 Mar. 2026
Definition of banshee
Noun
  • 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
  • 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
Definition of phantom
Noun
  • At once not quite real and all too real, Cohn has the uncanny presence of a ghoul or a fiend.
    — Fintan O’Toole, The New York Review of Books, 19 Sep. 2026
  • 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
Definition of ghoul
Noun
  • At her very best, Emily behaves like a petulant pre-adolescent spoiled imp.
    — Liza Lentini, SPIN, 14 Apr. 2026
  • Mykal-Michelle Harris from Raven’s Home guest-stars as Ruby, a mischievous moon imp who tricks Vee.
    — Allison McClain Merrill, Parents, 27 Oct. 2025
Definition of imp
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
  • Nearly 40 public elementary schools in Orange County now enroll fewer students than needed to be financially stable, raising the specter of more school closings in a district that shuttered seven campuses in May.
    — Steven Walker, The Orlando Sentinel, 19 Sep. 2026
  • But the Ioniq 5’s biggest problem is the potential specter of an Integrated Charging Controller Unit failure.
    — Jonathan M. Gitlin, ArsTechnica, 17 Sep. 2026
Definition of specter
Noun
  • For evening observers, this apparition has been more frustrating than triumphant, with Venus lingering low in the glow of twilight instead of climbing into a commanding position.
    — Joe Rao, Space.com, 5 Sep. 2026
  • One minute, the stubble field in front of his stand had been empty, and then suddenly, like an apparition, a whitetail buck had appeared.
    — Jeff Murray, Outdoor Life, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of apparition

Browse Nearby Words

incubi
incubus
inculcate
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Cite this Entry

“Incubus.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/incubus. Accessed 26 Sep. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on incubus

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about incubus

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