a mythical goddess represented as a young girl and said to live outdoors
in Greek mythology, naiads supposedly drowned the young men with whom they became enamored
a young wingless often wormlike form (as a grub or caterpillar) that hatches from the egg of many insects
students in science class learning how to distinguish a dragonfly naiad from an earthworm
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 naiadToday, the naiads frolic in water that is periodically drained for cleaning and maintenance.—David Laskin, San Diego Union-Tribune, 2 June 2024 And now, as played with fierce physicality and grueling commitment by Annette Bening, Diana is a movie character: an impossible person who achieved the impossible, a naiad whose truer mythological counterpart might be Narcissus.—Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times, 20 Oct. 2023 Leighton set his youthful figure — a classical nymph or naiad — in a Mediterranean setting.—Washington Post, 12 Oct. 2022 The lovely Arcadia region, lush with cypress, poplar, and olive groves, bears traces of the virgin wilderness where nymphs, naiads, and the horned god Pan once frolicked.—Thomas Linkel, National Geographic, 18 July 2019
At Pinecrest Gardens every vine and curve of bark will seem to conspire with this myth of a nymph who, resisting the god’s advances, turns into a laurel tree.
—
Guillermo Perez,
Miami Herald,
5 May 2026
Check not only for insects and their larvae or nymphs, but also for eggs, pupal structures, sticky honeydew, webbing, and tiny dark dots on stems and the backs of leaves.
—
Andy Wilcox,
Better Homes & Gardens,
26 Apr. 2026
The 56-year-old former TV personality denied that, telling Vogue the mermaid-like sculpture is meant to depict Freyja, the Norse goddess of love, fertility, war and gold.
—
Madeleine Marr,
Miami Herald,
7 May 2026
That’s probably a good thing considering the vessel features a wooden sculpture of what some say is Bezos’ wife, Lauren Sánchez Bezos, as a mermaid on the prow.