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• sibyl
  sibyl

  noun

  any of certain women of antiquity reputed to possess powers of prophecy or divination.
• Sibyl
  Sibyl

  noun

  a female given name.

sibyl

¹ American  

[sib-uhl] / ˈsɪb əl /

noun

1. any of certain women of antiquity reputed to possess powers of prophecy or divination.

2. a female prophet or witch.

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Sibyl ² American  

[sib-uhl] / ˈsɪb əl /

Or Sibylle

noun

1. a female given name.

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sibyl British  

/ ˈsɪbɪˌlaɪn, sɪˈbɪlaɪn, ˈsɪbɪl, sɪˈbɪlɪk /

noun

1. (in ancient Greece and Rome) any of a number of women believed to be oracles or prophetesses, one of the most famous being the sibyl of Cumae, who guided Aeneas through the underworld

2. a witch, fortune-teller, or sorceress

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Other Word Forms

• sibylline
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of sibyl

1250–1300; < Greek Síbylla Sibylla; replacing Middle English Sibil < Medieval Latin Sibilla < Greek, as above

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

sibyl Sibyl

Sherman has been the sibyl of such proliferating confusions, toying with representation’s integrity and the boundaries of identity for more than four decades.

From New York Times ● Jan. 24, 2024

It was deemed a line straight to God — staggering, the voice of an enchantress, a sibyl, a siren.

From Washington Post ● May 11, 2021

Since the mid-1980s, Ms. Cook has reigned as a kind of sibyl channeling the wisdom and humanity of the American songbook, particularly as embodied in the work of Stephen Sondheim.

From New York Times ● Jun. 22, 2016

The writer: syndicated Gossip Columnist Joyce Haber, 42, who was ousted by the Times after nine years of being cheered, feared and courted as Hollywood's most powerful journalistic sibyl.

From Time Magazine Archive

But not even a sibyl could have made sense of those tiny scraps of paper.

From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez

The 5-inch drawing depicts the right foot of the Libyan Sibyl, a blonde prophetess wearing a creamsicle gown painted onto the chapel ceiling’s eastern end.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 5, 2026

Experts at Christie's say it is a foot sketch of the Libyan Sibyl which was later painted on the Sistine Chapel ceiling.

From BBC ● Feb. 5, 2026

The set by Sibyl Wickersheimer is full of sunshiny touches suggesting the work of a child creating a magical space to ward off domestic sadness.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2023

There, by amazing playwriting coincidence — or perhaps not — Sibyl, in her 70s, encounters Amanda, in her 80s.

From New York Times ● Jul. 21, 2020

The library looked tranquil enough as I entered it, and the Sibyl—if Sibyl she were—was seated snugly enough in an easy-chair at the chimney-corner.

From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë