any of certain women of antiquity reputed to possess powers of prophecy or divination.
a female prophet or witch.
(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
1250–1300; < Greek Síbylla Sibylla; replacing Middle English Sibil < Medieval Latin Sibilla < Greek, as above
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Sherman has been the sibyl of such proliferating confusions, toying with representation’s integrity and the boundaries of identity for more than four decades.
From New York Times ● Jan. 24, 2024
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
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
But not even a sibyl could have made sense of those tiny scraps of paper.
From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez
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
“It was this or murdering chickens at the chicken plant,” Sibyl says, adding that the transportation costs for that minimum-wage work would have wiped out her earnings.
From New York Times ● Mar. 31, 2022
His father, Rupert Victor John Carington, was the 5th Baron Carrington and his mother, Sibyl Colville, was the daughter of the 2nd Viscount Colville.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 10, 2018
Aeneas plucked it joyfully and took it to the Sibyl.
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.
