cannibal
Americannoun
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a person who eats human flesh, especially for magical or religious purposes, as among certain tribal peoples.
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any animal that eats its own kind.
adjective
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pertaining to or characteristic of a cannibal.
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given to cannibalism.
noun
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a person who eats the flesh of other human beings
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( as modifier )
cannibal tribes
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an animal that feeds on the flesh of others of its kind
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of cannibal
First recorded in 1545–55; from Spanish caníbal, variant of caríbal, from canib-, caribe (from Taíno; see Carib ( def. )) + -al -al 1; from the belief that the Caribs of the West Indies ate human flesh
Explanation
A cannibal is someone who eats human flesh. It’s a good idea not to get too friendly with one, especially if you’re covered in delicious-smelling spices. The word cannibal comes from the Spanish word caníbalis, which was Christopher Columbus’s version of the word Caribs, the name people from the Caribbean called themselves. They meant Carib as in “brave ones” so something got lost in translation! Most cannibals are fictional — like Queequeg from Moby Dick or Hannibal Lecter from The Silence of the Lambs. This word can apply to animals that eat their own kind: for example, the cannibal shrimp eats other shrimp. Ew.
Vocabulary lists containing cannibal
"The Most Dangerous Game" by Richard Connell
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Milkweed
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Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
I spend enough time sitting around the house worrying about what I said to someone in high school that may have hurt their feeling so bad it turned them into a cannibal.
From Salon • Mar. 17, 2025
These cannibal dads had bulging bellies and a tendency to regurgitate the eggs when handled, the team reported in the American Naturalist.
From Scientific American • Oct. 1, 2023
Czubek poses the relationship between Nabwana and Hofmanis as an artistic roller coaster: They’re either gleefully collaborating on script ideas for a cannibal movie or having a falling out over the direction of the studio.
From New York Times • Jul. 6, 2023
The pilot ends by returning to the cannibal scene with a reveal reminiscent of a ’90s record-scratch freeze frame — the ol’ “I bet you’re wondering how I got here.”
From Washington Post • Apr. 7, 2023
This, of course, was the reason she had kept the cannibal book in the first place.
From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
