wendigo

/ ˈwɛndɪˌɡəʊ, ˈwɪndɪˌɡəʊ /

noun

1. (among Algonquian Indians) an evil spirit or cannibal

2. another name for splake

Word History and Origins

Origin of wendigo¹

from Algonquian: evil spirit or cannibal

Example Sentences

There may be reasons for both, but the purpose of the series is to exploit a poor, seemingly defenseless woodland creature whose cousins—the Yeti, the Florida-based Skunk Ape, the Native-American Wendigo and other abominable “cryptids”—serve to nurture the human’s fondness for legends, the unknowns of nature, even metaphysical mysteries.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Mining rich strata of poisoned history and blood-soaked land, the writers summon an exhaustive array of ghosts, wolves, Wendigo spirits, human eaters, conjure women, and petroglyphs willing to exact revenge if you scratch them with your car keys.

Read more on Scientific American

Mixed in is text about the legend of the Wendigo, a human turned cannibal.

Read more on New York Times

If the Wendigo was a human whose selfishness “overpowered their self control,” Kascak says, the modern-day equivalents are corporations.

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Feliz falls into the world of the Wendigo — masked, crouching dancers who grab her feet as she tries to walk — and is passed over their hulking forms.

Read more on New York Times