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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Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga are returning as paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren who are trying to vanquish a demon from a family’s home.—
Rebecca Rubin,
Variety,
3 Sep. 2025
-
The inevitable showdown between the demon, which manifests in various forms during the film, is wild and exhausting, and gives Wilson and Farmiga, as consistent and excellent as always throughout, a powerful performative and emotional last stand.—
Simon Thompson,
Forbes.com,
3 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Temperance let loose a banshee wail.—
Charna Flam,
People.com,
25 Aug. 2025
-
There aren’t songs with Chino screaming like a banshee, nor are there any overindulging atmospheric tracks.—
Quentin Thane Singer,
Forbes.com,
22 Aug. 2025
Noun
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The little ghouls at your party will howl for this tropical smoothie.—
Sarah Martens,
Better Homes & Gardens,
25 Aug. 2025
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There are a lot of stock viewer-goosings: Screaming ghoul faces, crawling insects, waking nightmares and other jump scares, including the sonic kind of sudden loud noises or silences.—
Dennis Harvey,
Variety,
6 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
Science and magic, love, humour and phantoms.—
Zac Ntim,
Deadline,
13 Aug. 2025
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Gesturing toward cinema’s roots in 19th-century phantom rides and panoramas, FELT finds a dynamic new form for the sensory experience of space and movement.—
Christian Zilko,
IndieWire,
7 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
Chen is the wraith-like heart of this story, but her character strains belief even in a shaky hand of a movie that operates with all the internal logic of a gambling addiction.—
David Ehrlich,
IndieWire,
31 Aug. 2025
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This is a pen that is both weighty and lighthearted – fitting for the home of Bilbo and Frodo Baggins, whose life of bonhomie and good cheer was disrupted by adventure and dragons and ring wraiths and war.—
Erik Kain,
Forbes.com,
12 June 2025
Noun
-
The mushroom’s healing properties also lead to hallucinations, often involving mysterious white imps, who should be adorable and instead come across as menacing little ghouls.—
Alan Sepinwall,
Rolling Stone,
18 June 2025
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And Dot — well, Dot keeps an imp in an old wine bottle.—
Sara Holdren,
Vulture,
17 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
America’s all-purpose bogeyman might be the bomb-throwing rebel, but in truth, disillusionment inspires more violence than ideology.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
2 Sep. 2025
-
Where many in Hollywood view AI as something of a bogeyman, fearing widespread job loss, others see opportunity.—
Tatiana Siegel,
Variety,
20 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
Was the specter of Cracker Barrel’s collapse and bankruptcy a mere fancy?—
Graham Hillard,
The Washington Examiner,
5 Sep. 2025
-
The chat is an individual and a collective, less hive mind and more omnipresent specter.—
CT Jones,
Rolling Stone,
5 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Incubus.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/incubus. Accessed 10 Sep. 2025.
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