incubus
an imaginary demon or evil spirit supposed to descend upon sleeping persons, especially one fabled to have sexual intercourse with women during their sleep.: Compare succubus (def. 1).
a nightmare.
something that weighs upon or oppresses one like a nightmare.
Origin of incubus
1Words that may be confused with incubus
- incubus , succubus
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use incubus in a sentence
Before saying more of the "incubi," we may bestow a passing glance upon the foundation of the idea of their existence.
Ancient Faiths And Modern | Thomas InmanBut the orthodox regarded the Cabalists as magicians and their spirits as foul incubi.
The Science of Fairy Tales | Edwin Sidney HartlandHistoriam Incubi magis ad epilepticos, quam paralyticos affectus referendi, subjungam: Puella xviii.
The Fairies marry not; but there be amongst them Incubi, that have copulation with flesh and bloud.
Leviathan | Thomas HobbesHobgoblins seemed to steal through the hall, and leering incubi oppressed his soul with terrible burdens.
The House of the Vampire | George Sylvester Viereck
British Dictionary definitions for incubus
/ (ˈɪnkjʊbəs) /
a demon believed in folklore to lie upon sleeping persons, esp to have sexual intercourse with sleeping women: Compare succubus
something that oppresses, worries, or disturbs greatly, esp a nightmare or obsession
Origin of incubus
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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