seraph
Americannoun
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one of the celestial beings hovering above God's throne in Isaiah's vision. Isaiah 6.
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a member of the highest order of angels, often represented as a child's head with wings above, below, and on each side.
noun
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theol a member of the highest order of angels in the celestial hierarchies, often depicted as the winged head of a child
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Old Testament one of the fiery six-winged beings attendant upon Jehovah in Isaiah's vision (Isaiah 6)
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of seraph
First recorded in 1660–70; back formation from seraphim
Explanation
A seraph is an angel — a heavenly, human-like creature with wings. In Christianity, a seraph is an angel of the first order, which is a very important angel. A seraph is a member of a group of angels called the seraphim, who are believed to have six wings. In paintings and sculpture, a seraph is often portrayed as a child with wings. Seraphic is a word meaning "angelic."
Vocabulary lists containing seraph
"The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe
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Christmas Carol Vocab: A Lyrical Lexicon
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"The Raven"
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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.
See Examples For:
Mr. Tomash, mirroring Taylor Stanley, who identifies as nonbinary, has what might be seen as a seraph role, given the wing-like, flowing sleeves of fashion designer Iris van Herpen’s costuming, supervised by Marc Happel.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2025
Foul-mouthed seraph Ashnikko first strikes viewers with her long blue pigtails and ethereal humanoid beauty.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 25, 2021
"Angel," for example, depicts a seraph of some sort — but one that's badly damaged.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 27, 2012
Falling in love with an enemy seraph, she is forced to discover her role in the brutal war between angels and monsters.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 9, 2011
The balance was upset, and Lazlo felt, as clearly as though the seraph were his own body slowly falling to earth, how to put it right.
From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor
She’s attended by a half-dozen crimson seraphim and three royal blue cherubim.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 10, 2018
Its vertical collision of saints and seraphim strongly echoes Caravaggio’s “Seven Acts of Mercy,” and here, too, the high drama of holy suffering is tinged with the violence of the Roman street.
From New York Times ● Oct. 6, 2016
Jeff, be real with me: are we about to see a death-kiss wielding seraphim possessed by Satan descend with great and terrible power on Briarcliff?
From Slate ● Jan. 3, 2013
We are given accounts of the cherubim and seraphim that read almost like the reports of a field anthropologist, detailed biographies of the archangels, and a rich seam of angelological trivia.
From The Guardian ● Dec. 21, 2012
All around me are the cherubim, seraphim, continually crying “Holy, holy, holy,” the angels, archangels, that sort of thing.
From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith
He developed a style of writing that extended the seraphs of letters into arrows or dynamic vectors resembling missiles, rendering them all but illegible, except to the initiated.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 26, 2020
In descending order: 1. seraphs; 2. cherubs; 3. thrones; 4. dominations; 5. virtues; 6. powers; 7. principalities; 8. archangels; 9. angels.
From Time Magazine Archive
Truth, Love, Power, Glory, Toil, Faith, Hope and kindred "waiting seraphs" are invoked on the bare strength of their names.
From Time Magazine Archive
A little dollop of Here Comes Mr. Jordan or Stairway to Heaven never hurt anyone--except that these seraphs have a mean streak unknown to their more beamish movie predecessors.
From Time Magazine Archive
All gentle souls below Their dearest welcome shall prepare, and prove Such joy o'er thee as raptured seraphs know, Who learn their lesson at the throne of love.—Keble.
From The Torn Bible Or Hubert's Best Friend by Somerton, Alice
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.
