hyena

or hy·ae·na

[hahy-ee-nuh]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR hyena ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a doglike carnivore of the family Hyaenidae, of Africa, southwestern Asia, and south central Asia, having a coarse coat, a sloping back, and large teeth and feeding chiefly on carrion, often in packs.

Compare brown hyena, spotted hyena, striped hyena.

Origin of hyena

1350–1400; Middle English hiena < Medieval Latin hyēna, Latin hyaena < Greek hýaina, equivalent to hy- (stem of hŷs) hog + -aina feminine suffix; replacing Middle English hyane, hyene < Middle French hiene < Latin

Related formshy·e·nic, hy·e·nine

[hahy-ee-nahyn, -nin] /haɪˈi naɪn, -nɪn/, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for hyena

mutt, pooch, pup, cur, wolf, chow, hound, dingo, fox, coyote, rat, vulture, magpie, jackal, lobo

Examples from the Web for hyena

Historical Examples of hyena

That night he slipped through the dark, like a hyena pup, to Ringwood.
Thoroughbreds
W. A. Fraser
Look at the case of the "Hyena," as he was called in his prime.
Ridgeway
Scian Dubh
The third is found at the point called the Plateau of Hyena.
The Story of the Great War, Volume III (of VIII)
Various
Then there were loud guffaws, and oaths, and cries like the cry of the hyena.
The Scapegoat
Hall Caine
One heard from the depths of the jungle the tittering of a hyena.
Sacrifice
Stephen French Whitman

British Dictionary definitions for hyena

hyena

hyaena

noun

any of several long-legged carnivorous doglike mammals of the genera Hyaena and Crocuta, such as C. crocuta (spotted or laughing hyena), of Africa and S Asia: family Hyaenidae, order Carnivora (carnivores)See also strandwolf

Derived Formshyenic or hyaenic, adjective

Word Origin for hyena

C16: from Medieval Latin, from Latin hyaena, from Greek huaina, from hus hog

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

Word Origin and History for hyena

mid-14c., from Old French hiene, from Latin hyaena, from Greek hyaina "swine" (fem.), from hys "pig" + fem. suffix -aina. So called for its bristles. Applied to cruel, treacherous, and greedy persons since at least 1670s. Adjectival forms that have been attempted in English include hyenaish, hyenaesque, hyenic, hyenine.