succubus

[suhk-yuh-buh s]

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noun, plural suc·cu·bi [suhk-yuh-bahy] /ˈsʌk yəˌbaɪ/.

a demon in female form, said to have sexual intercourse with men in their sleep.Compare incubus(def 1).

any demon or evil spirit.

a strumpet or prostitute.

Origin of succubus

1350–1400; Middle English < Medieval Latin, variant of Latin succuba succuba; cf. incubus

Can be confusedincubus succubus

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

Examples from the Web for succubus

Contemporary Examples of succubus

You know he told me once that he had been attacked by a succubus [female demon].
Murder, Sex, and the Writing Life: Norman Mailer’s Biography
Ronald K. Fried
November 19, 2013

Historical Examples of succubus

I swear to you that the succubus came, irritant and palpable and most tenacious.
L-bas
J. K. Huysmans
You were frighted by a vision, by a nightmare, by a succubus of the night.
The Black Douglas
S. R. Crockett
The devil in this case acts the part of an incubus, but his performances as a succubus are more inconceivable.
A Philosophical Dictionary, Volume 6 (of 10)
Franois-Marie Arouet (AKA Voltaire)
There are no gorgons, hydras, chimras; no familiars; no incubus or succubus.
History of the Intellectual Development of Europe, Volume II (of 2)
John William Draper
At my side kept always the said Succubus, and her sweet, delectable embrace distilled new ardour into my members.
Droll Stories, Complete
Honore de Balzac

British Dictionary definitions for succubus

succubus

noun plural -bi (-ˌbaɪ)

Also called: succuba a female demon fabled to have sexual intercourse with sleeping menCompare incubus

any evil demon

Word Origin for succubus

C16: from Medieval Latin, from Late Latin succuba harlot, from Latin succubāre to lie beneath, from sub- + cubāre to lie

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 succubus

late 14c., alteration (after incubus) of Late Latin succuba "strumpet," applied to a fiend in female form having intercourse with men in their sleep, from succubare "to lie under," from sub- "under" (see sub-) + cubare "to lie down" (see cubicle).