sibyl
noun
any of certain women of antiquity reputed to possess powers of prophecy or divination.
sibyl
1 American
[sib-uhl]
/ ˈsɪb əl /
noun
-
any of certain women of antiquity reputed to possess powers of prophecy or divination.
-
a female prophet or witch.
Sibyl
2
American
[sib-uhl]
/ ˈsɪb əl /
Or
Sibylle
noun
sibyl
British
/ ˈsɪbɪl /
noun
-
(in ancient Greece and Rome) any of a number of women believed to be oracles or prophetesses, one of the most famous being the sibyl of Cumae, who guided Aeneas through the underworld
-
a witch, fortune-teller, or sorceress
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of sibyl
1250–1300; < Greek Síbylla Sibylla; replacing Middle English Sibil < Medieval Latin Sibilla < Greek, as above
Vocabulary lists containing sibyl
Reading: Literature - Mythology - Introductory
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Reading: Literature - Mythology - Middle School
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Reading: Literature - Mythology - High School
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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:
It was deemed a line straight to God — staggering, the voice of an enchantress, a sibyl, a siren.
From Washington Post ● May 11, 2021
Since the mid-1980s, Ms. Cook has reigned as a kind of sibyl channeling the wisdom and humanity of the American songbook, particularly as embodied in the work of Stephen Sondheim.
From New York Times ● Jun. 22, 2016
As she and Mr. Charlap performed standards on Wednesday, you had the feeling of being in the presence of an empathic sibyl gently reminding you that life goes on.
From New York Times ● Nov. 4, 2011
The writer: syndicated Gossip Columnist Joyce Haber, 42, who was ousted by the Times after nine years of being cheered, feared and courted as Hollywood's most powerful journalistic sibyl.
From Time Magazine Archive
“A sibyl of a medieval nun. She has guided my life.”
From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole
The 5-inch drawing depicts the right foot of the Libyan Sibyl, a blonde prophetess wearing a creamsicle gown painted onto the chapel ceiling’s eastern end.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 5, 2026
The small red chalk sketch is thought to date to about 1511-1512 when Michelangelo was preparing to work on the second half of his painting of the Sistine ceiling, which included the Libyan Sibyl.
From BBC ● Feb. 5, 2026
The set by Sibyl Wickersheimer, which features a wall of safe deposit boxes that contain not cash or jewelry but only memories, is as artfully arranged as the ghostly lighting by Pablo Santiago.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 18, 2022
From there it’s on to Frankenstein, Bigfoot and Sasquatch as Abrons presents a streaming video adaptation of Sibyl Kempson’s “The Securely Conferred, Vouchsafed Keepsakes of Maery S.,” beginning Oct.
From New York Times ● Aug. 3, 2021
Aeneas and the Sibyl made their way back to the earth and Aeneas returned to his ships.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
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.
