incubus

Definition of incubusnext

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
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
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
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
Noun
  • Six Flags Great America has transformed once more for its 35th Fright Fest, bringing demons, ghosts, ghouls and other things that go bump in the night to the park.
    — Joseph States, Chicago Tribune, 1 Oct. 2026
  • 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
Noun
  • Mykal-Michelle Harris from Raven’s Home guest stars as Ruby, a mischievous moon imp who tricks Vee.
    — Allison McClain Merrill, Parents, 22 Sep. 2026
  • At her very best, Emily behaves like a petulant pre-adolescent spoiled imp.
    — Liza Lentini, SPIN, 14 Apr. 2026
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
Noun
  • The tale of a girl on the verge of adulthood facing the threat of immigration agents and haunted by specters from Mexican folklore is told through live actors, sophisticated puppetry and an original score of Indigenous percussion.
    — Jessica Gelt, Los Angeles Times, 2 Oct. 2026
  • Organizations shouldn’t treat the specter of breach monetization as separate from the threat model.
    — Steve Durbin, Forbes.com, 1 Oct. 2026
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

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Cite this Entry

“Incubus.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/incubus. Accessed 7 Oct. 2026.

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