succubus

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US, UK/ˈsʌk.jʊ.bəs/US, UK/ˈsʌk.jə.bəs/

noun

A female demon which comes to men, especially monks, in their dreams to seduce them and have sexual intercourse, drawing energy from the men to sustain themselves, often until the point of exhaustion or death.

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Meanings

nounsuccubus (plural succubi or succubuses)

plural succubi · plural succubuses

  1. mediaeval folkloreA female demon which comes to men, especially monks, in their dreams to seduce them and have sexual intercourse, drawing energy from the men to sustain themselves, often until the point of exhaustion or death.
    1 more example

    1977 Italo Calvino, The Castle of Crossed Destinies, Part 2, Chapter 5, 1969. Translated from Italian by William Weaver. When the Sabbath is caught by the first ray of the rising sun, all the witches and the vampires, incubi and succubi, take flight, some transforming themselves into noctules, some into other bats, some into still other species of Chiroptera.

Synonyms & antonyms

nouna female demon believed to have sexual intercourse with sleeping men

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Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Latinsuccubo“to lie under”
  2. Late Latinsuccuba“strumpet, especially a mythological fiend in female form who has intercourse with men in their sleep”
  3. Englishsuccubus

Pseudo-Latinism, derived from alteration of Late Latin succuba (“strumpet, especially a mythological fiend in female form who has intercourse with men in their sleep”) based on incubus in Middle English, from Latin succubo (“to lie under”), from sub- (“under”) + cubare (“to lie down”).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian суку́б, суку́бус
  • суку́б (sukúb)female demon
  • суку́бус (sukúbus)female demon
  • суку́ба (sukúba)female demon
Catalan súcub, súcube
  • súcubfemale demon
  • súcubefemale demon
Chinese Mandarin 魅魔
  • 魅魔 (mèimó)female demon
Danish mare
  • marefemale demon
Esperanto sukubo
  • sukubofemale demon
Finnish succubus, naispuolinen demoni
  • succubusfemale demon
  • naispuolinen demonifemale demon
French succube
  • succubefemale demon
German Sukkubus
  • Sukkubusfemale demon
Greek σούκουμπους
  • σούκουμπους (soúkoumpous)female demon
Italian succubo
  • succubofemale demon
Japanese サキュバス, 夢魔
  • サキュバス (sakyubasu)female demon
  • 夢魔 (muma)female demon
Latin succuba
  • succubafemale demon
Polish sukkub, sukub
  • sukkubfemale demon
  • sukubfemale demon
Portuguese súcubo
  • súcubofemale demon
Romanian sucub
  • sucubfemale demon
Russian су̀кку́б, сукку́бус
  • су̀кку́б (sùkkúb)female demon
  • сукку́бус (sukkúbus)female demon
Spanish súcubo
  • súcubofemale demon
Swedish succuba, succubus
  • succubafemale demon
  • succubusfemale demon

Rhymes & wordplay

Sounds the same

Cite this entry
APA

succubus. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/succubus

MLA

“succubus.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/succubus. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “succubus,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/succubus.

Source: succubus on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.