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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But when her housemate Molly (Laura Marcus) takes her relentless bullying a step too far, Bliss comes to the conclusion that perhaps the demons she’s been hunting have been under her roof the whole time.—
Alex Ritman,
Variety,
14 Apr. 2026
-
But at this event, there was no Bobby, and there was no talk of lifelong demons.—
Jill Smolowe,
PEOPLE,
14 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Weaving, even more than before, makes Grace an ingénue gone banshee.—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
14 Mar. 2026
-
The bond between a rider and their banshee doesn't break, and chances are your bond with this two-figure set won't either.—
Fran Ruiz,
Space.com,
19 Dec. 2025
Noun
-
Such a designation, evidently, would save agents from wasting time chasing phantoms.—
Adam Ciralsky,
Vanity Fair,
19 Mar. 2026
-
The Stygiomedusa gigantea, commonly known as the giant phantom jelly, was filmed at 250 meters below the surface.—
Michelle Del Rey,
USA Today,
4 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
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
-
Ledger ingeniously plays the Joker as a chaotic force of nature, a scarred and unknowable ghoul clad in clown paint and a garish suit from Demon's Wearhouse.—
Brian Truitt,
USA Today,
4 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
The second was more bizarre: that some nasty imp in my psyche might decide that jumping was a good idea.—
Rosecrans Baldwin,
Travel + Leisure,
10 Mar. 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
Noun
-
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
-
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
Noun
-
Every song becomes a seance, every bump in the night turns into evidence of a specter.—
David Ehrlich,
IndieWire,
14 Apr. 2026
-
That set the stage for an extraordinary showdown that posed serious risks for the global economy and raised the specter that the ceasefire could collapse and the war could resume.—
Samy Magdy,
Los Angeles Times,
13 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
But he’s journeyed to Lourdes and Our Lady of Guadalupe, both of which the Vatican has officially recognized as supernatural Marian apparitions.—
Denise Crosby,
Chicago Tribune,
5 Apr. 2026
-
When 59% of California voters have a concern about the cost of providing public benefits to an unlimited number of people residing in the country unlawfully, that’s an apparition that will roam the earth.—
Susan Shelley,
Oc Register,
5 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Incubus.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/incubus. Accessed 20 Apr. 2026.
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