dybbuk
Americannoun
-
dybbuks,
plural
-
dybbukim
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of dybbuk
First recorded in 1900–05; from Yiddish dibek, from Hebrew dibbūq, derivative of dābhaq “cleave (to)”; spelling dybbuk is a Polish transliteration of the Hebrew word
Vocabulary lists containing dybbuk
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.
See Examples For:
“She is dealing with the death of her father and her mother’s depression — and then there’s a wandering spirit or dybbuk that is ornery and disruptive,” said Higuera.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 7, 2022
Polish director Marcin Wrona, who wrote the movie with Pawel Maslona, has thoroughly reconceptualized the mythology of the dybbuk for 21st-century Eastern Europe.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 13, 2016
Instead, he dies, and his spirit enters her body as a dybbuk — the evil soul of a dead person.
From New York Times ● Sep. 8, 2016
Human remains and the presence of a dybbuk unnerve an Englishman when he arrives in rural Poland to marry.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2016
“You’re the one who told me I have a dybbuk inside me. You’re the one who brought me to Meir. I didn’t ask for any of this.”
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
I grew up on stories of holy men parting the river Bistrița, golems shaped from clay, and, of course, those possessive spirits called dybbukim.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
She would have made good company of Motke the Meshugener, who had wandered the streets of Piatra Neamț harassing travelers he was convinced were possessed by the dybbukim of his loved ones.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
“If that banished dybbukim, then this wouldn’t be a problem.”
From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny
I supposed even dybbukim weren’t spared from remembering.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
“But dybbukim don’t make girls disappear into thin air,” said Clara.
From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny
Mr. Kroll and Mr. Mulaney don’t so much portray Gil and George as allow themselves to be taken over by them, as if by dybbuks.
From New York Times ● Dec. 10, 2015
This is the thing with dybbuks, they know how to get under your skin.
From New York Times ● Jan. 16, 2013
Critics sometimes complain about how many of Singer's characters behave irrationally and about how many of his plots hinge on the machinations of dybbuks or the fist of fate.
From Time Magazine Archive
The attributions are graceful but hardly necessary, for Poe and Melville rattle around in this book like a couple of dybbuks.
From Time Magazine Archive
The Nobel laureate chooses 47 tales of demons, dybbuks and exuberantly flawed men and women, set mainly in his native Poland and his adopted Manhattan.
From Time Magazine Archive
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