Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

incubus

/ˈɪŋ.kjʊ.bəs/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.52 in modern English

Syllables
in-cubus
IPA
/ˈɪŋ.kjʊ.bəs/
11
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

An evil spirit supposed to oppress people while asleep, especially to have sex with women as they sleep.

noun

A feeling of oppression during sleep, sleep paralysis; night terrors, a nightmare.

noun

Any oppressive thing or person; a burden.

noun

One of various of parasitic insects, especially subfamily Aphidiinae.

Example Sentences

Etymology

From Late Latin incubus, from Latin incubō (“nightmare, one who lies down on the sleeper”), from incubō (“to lie upon, to hatch”, from in- (“on”) + cubō (“to lie down”)).

Origin

Word Breakdown

  • Root: *ḱewb-, incubus, incubō

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /ˈɪŋ.kjʊ.bəs/
  • British English: /ˈɪŋ.kjʊ.bəs/

Inflected Forms

incubi (plural) incubuses (plural)

Frequently Paired Words

incubous succubus

Synonyms

nightmare

Homonyms

incubous

Questions

How do you pronounce incubus?
The recorded pronunciation is /ˈɪŋ.kjʊ.bəs/.
What does incubus mean?
An evil spirit supposed to oppress people while asleep, especially to have sex with women as they sleep.
Where does incubus come from?
It is traced to Latin.

How to pronounce incubus

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “incubus”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈɪŋ.kjʊ.bəs/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “incubus”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “incubus” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.