noun

incubus

ING-kyuh-buhss

Incubus (noun) means In medieval European folklore, a male demon believed to settle on people as they sleep and cause nightmares. Example: “The manuscript describes an incubus pressing on the sleeper's chest.”

noun

In medieval European folklore, a male demon believed to settle on people as they sleep and cause nightmares.

"The manuscript describes an incubus pressing on the sleeper's chest."

"Church writers treated the incubus as a real danger rather than a bad dream."

literary A thing that oppresses or weighs heavily on someone, like a burden that cannot be shaken off.

"The debt sat on the household like an incubus."

"Censorship was an incubus on the country's writers for a generation."

How to Use Incubus

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishA demon from old stories that was said to sit on you while you slept.

When to use it

Literary and historical; the figurative sense is rare and quite formal.

Memory tip

The word nightmare originally meant much the same thing — a 'mare' was a spirit that pressed on sleepers.

Trace the full origin ↓

Easily confused with

succubus → nightmare → poltergeist →

Common pairings

the incubus of debt medieval incubus incubus and succubus

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Fill the Gap

Can you complete this real example?

The manuscript describes an _____ pressing on the sleeper's chest.

Etymology

From Late Latin incubus 'nightmare', from incubare 'to lie upon'.

Origin: Latin

Synonyms

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demon night spirit nightmare spirit burden oppression weight affliction

Related Words

power effect pressure weight charge disease mass fat

Rhymes for incubus

succubus

See all rhymes for incubus →

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between an incubus and a succubus?

In folklore the incubus is the male figure and the succubus the female one. The names come from Latin verbs meaning to lie upon and to lie beneath. Both belong to the same body of medieval belief about spirits that visit sleepers.

What is the plural of incubus?

Both incubi, following the Latin, and incubuses are accepted. Incubi is the more usual form in writing about folklore.

Is the incubus connected to sleep paralysis?

Many historians and doctors think so. Sleep paralysis often involves waking immobility and a crushing weight on the chest, which matches the old descriptions closely and may explain why the belief was so widespread.

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