as in demon
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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
As Tommy’s experiences in the tunnels of France mark a continued incubus for his character, with visions of being pulled into the mud, the sounding of the bell coincides with his own inner peace.
—Josh St. Clair, Men's Health, 13 June 2022
An incubus is the male variety (and also that band).
—Angie Jones, Glamour, 17 Mar. 2022
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
As Tommy’s experiences in the tunnels of France mark a continued incubus for his character, with visions of being pulled into the mud, the sounding of the bell coincides with his own inner peace.
—Josh St. Clair, Men's Health, 13 June 2022
An incubus is the male variety (and also that band).
—Angie Jones, Glamour, 17 Mar. 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for incubus
Noun
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Together, the two men battle the forces of evil, each other, and their own demons on the path to salvation.—
Rosy Cordero,
Deadline,
27 May 2025
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Other days, some of the old demons on the forehand and the serve resurface.—
Corey Seymour,
Vogue,
23 May 2025
Noun
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The Rose Field begins where the second book, The Secret Commonwealth leaves off: Lyra alone in a city full of daemons, or physical projections of a person's soul, looking for Pantalaimon as her mentor, Malcolm Polstead, searches for her.—
Rachel Raposas,
People.com,
29 Apr. 2025
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The computer daemon operates in a similar manner, continuously working behind the scenes to keep processes going and to address service requests.—
The Editors,
JSTOR Daily,
23 Oct. 2024
Noun
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But just before all the banshee wailing threatens to overwhelm proceedings, along comes a hypnotic tribal beat which briefly turns the wake into a party.—
Jon O'Brien,
Vulture,
13 May 2025
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Our ears are still ringing from watching fans become shrieking banshees upon realizing that one of her professional dancers was actually the NFL star.—
Lauren Huff,
EW.com,
7 Dec. 2024
Noun
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Despite those forty-three words, the ghoul that the North Carolina Freedmen’s Convention feared most had risen—caste preservationists debuted a new caste system.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
5 June 2025
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It was filled with hideous props — ghouls and skeletons crafted of balsa wood, wax, and papier-mâché.—
Mara Bovsun,
New York Daily News,
8 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Ray is an enigma and a mystery, a man who zips into town on a motorbike like a phantom and could just as easily evaporate at any minute.—
Ryan Lattanzio,
IndieWire,
18 May 2025
-
Season 4 continued to expand the paranormal world of Ghosts, with the funny phantoms developing new powers, the introduction of even more specters roaming the Woodstone grounds — and Jay (Utkarsh Ambudkar), finally able to see the ghosts his wife, Sam (Rose McIver) is always speaking with.—
Christopher Rudolph,
People.com,
9 May 2025
Noun
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The First Shadow was an effect as magical as the telekinetic wraiths emanating above the actors’ bodies.—
Taylor Antrim,
Vogue,
30 Apr. 2025
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The before-and-after pictures still astound: a skeletal wraith on the left, a rosy-cheeked child on the right.—
IEEE Spectrum,
IEEE Spectrum,
27 May 2015
Noun
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And Dot — well, Dot keeps an imp in an old wine bottle.—
Sara Holdren,
Vulture,
17 Apr. 2025
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Combining animation and live action, the film continues the adventures of the magical imp Pumuckl.—
Ed Meza,
Variety,
13 Feb. 2025
Noun
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In lesser hands, the family’s unfortunately topical adversaries could be but straw bogeymen or non pareil Darth Vaders.—
Emily Temple
May 27,
Literary Hub,
27 May 2025
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Now, though, their favorite bogeyman, Gary Gensler, the Securities and Exchange Commission chief under President Joe Biden, is gone.—
Allison Morrow,
CNN,
20 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Incubus.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/incubus. Accessed 12 Jun. 2025.
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