changeling
a child surreptitiously or unintentionally substituted for another.
(in folklore) an ugly, stupid, or strange child left by fairies in place of a pretty, charming child.
Philately. a postage stamp that, by accident or intention, has been chemically changed in color.
Archaic.
a renegade or turncoat.
an imbecile.
Origin of changeling
1Words Nearby changeling
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use changeling in a sentence
This is more changeling than Invictus, as far as director Eastwood is concerned.
'The Descendants,' 'The Muppets,' and Other Thanksgiving Movies to See or Skip | Marlow Stern | November 24, 2011 | THE DAILY BEASTTo be fair, and slightly ashamed of myself, I did not watch changeling.
Die foolish beoples in the island, they say she is a wechsel-balg—what you call a fairy-elf changeling.
Peveril of the Peak | Sir Walter ScottOne more story of a "changeling" before we leave the subject.
German Culture Past and Present | Ernest Belfort BaxEverybody believed Ellis to have been a changeling, and one saying of his is well known in that part of the country.
The Science of Fairy Tales | Edwin Sidney Hartland
The same writer gives a similar account of the changeling mentioned above, p. 107.
The Science of Fairy Tales | Edwin Sidney HartlandThiele relates a story in which a wild stallion colt is brought in to smell two babes, one of which is a changeling.
The Science of Fairy Tales | Edwin Sidney Hartland
British Dictionary definitions for changeling
/ (ˈtʃeɪndʒlɪŋ) /
a child believed to have been exchanged by fairies for the parents' true child
archaic
an idiot
a fickle or changeable person
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Browse