incubus

Definition of incubusnext

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of incubus The Devil’s Museum, a satellite of the main collection, has amassed more than 3,000 depictions of demons, evil spirits and incubus from around the world. — Joe Yogerst, Forbes.com, 22 Apr. 2025 Your fame sits beside you like an incubus, and people are embarrassed and want to leave the room. — Candace Bushnell, Vogue, 23 Feb. 2025 This meaning is visualized in Henry Fuseli’s 1781 painting The Nightmare, which shows a woman sleeping peacefully on a couch while a nauseating monster—an incubus—sits portentously on her abdomen, unbeknownst to her. — Time, 28 Dec. 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for incubus
Noun
  • No ghosts, ghouls, or demons here, just the evil things that greed makes people do, at least until the little guy starts fighting back.
    — Eve Batey, Vanity Fair, 16 Oct. 2026
  • Written and directed by Jeremy Slater, the film follows Jefferson Haddock (Bacon), who is called into an isolated witness protection property to deal with a terrifying demon, unleashing a force that threatens to end him and everything around him.
    — Matt Grobar, Deadline, 16 Oct. 2026
Noun
  • Three species of bats inhabit the site, and supernatural events—including the appearance of the gamekeeper’s ghost and the wail of a banshee—have been reported.
    — Patricia Doherty, Travel + Leisure, 22 May 2026
  • Weaving, even more than before, makes Grace an ingénue gone banshee.
    — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 14 Mar. 2026
Noun
  • Fadal brought up her own phantom smells during a recent podcast conversation with Andrea Donsky, a nutritionist who’s written about and conducted research on this symptom.
    — Maggie Ryan, Flow Space, 26 Aug. 2026
  • Both phantoms were packed with thousands of dosimeters, tracking radiation dose over specific phases of the flight rather than just a cumulative total.
    — Jacek Krywko, ArsTechnica, 13 Aug. 2026
Noun
  • No ghosts, ghouls, or demons here, just the evil things that greed makes people do, at least until the little guy starts fighting back.
    — Eve Batey, Vanity Fair, 16 Oct. 2026
  • Next week, find out how monsters, ghouls and slashers can also mean big bucks.
    — Ayesha Rascoe, NPR, 11 Oct. 2026
Noun
  • People have since replaced the imp with fictional people like Sam and Dean Winchester and Wednesday Addams, public figures like Gypsy-Rose Blanchard and even mascots like Ronald McDonald.
    — Angela Yang, NBC news, 7 Oct. 2026
  • Mykal-Michelle Harris from Raven’s Home guest stars as Ruby, a mischievous moon imp who tricks Vee.
    — Allison McClain Merrill, Parents, 22 Sep. 2026
Noun
  • There’s not a single shot of a healthy human being in the movie, only wraiths filmed in sickly shades of pink, red and blue.
    — Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 23 Sep. 2026
  • Pilots can see bad weather lurking in the distance hours before takeoff, glowing like a wraith on their digital maps.
    — Burkhard Bilger, New Yorker, 2 Mar. 2026
Noun
  • While the weather painted a chaotic picture, stories from Malibu residents were of neighbors coming together as a community in a way only the specter of disaster could prompt.
    — Noah Haggerty, Los Angeles Times, 17 Oct. 2026
  • But the dark matter passed right through and continued on, like a specter passing through a wall.
    — Quanta Magazine, Quanta Magazine, 14 Oct. 2026
Noun
  • The spacecraft encounters transformed a disappointing naked-eye apparition into a landmark scientific campaign.
    — Joe Rao, Space.com, 13 Oct. 2026
  • One is Eye Witness (1987), a wintry landscape of two figures who seem to look away from an apparition of sorts; a skyscraper in the distance bears a resemblance to the Empire State Building.
    — Maximilíano Durón, ARTnews.com, 12 Oct. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Incubus.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/incubus. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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