incubus
/ˈɪŋ.kjʊ.bəs/noun
incubus is spelled I-N-C-U-B-U-S: 7 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 51,738th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, incubus means “An evil spirit supposed to oppress people while asleep, especially to have sex with women as they sleep” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of incubus is incubi or incubuses.
How many letters and syllables are in incubus?
| Letters | 7: I-N-C-U-B-U-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 51,738th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Sounds like |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is incubus?
Incubus appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 51,738th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce incubus?
- US /ˈɪŋ.kjʊ.bəs/
- US /ˈɪn.kjə.bəs/
Incubus has 3 syllables (counted from the pronunciation).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-incubus.ogg, En-au-incubus.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with incubus
Sounds like: incubous (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of incubus
- incubi plural
- incubuses plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does incubus mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
An evil spirit supposed to oppress people while asleep, especially to have sex with women as they sleep.
- 2
A feeling of oppression during sleep, sleep paralysis; night terrors, a nightmare.
it increaseth fearful dreams, incubus, night-walking, crying out, and much unquietness […] .
- 3
Any oppressive thing or person; a burden.
Again he felt the impulse of flight: but his body was a dry dead incubus that refused to obey his volition.
- 4
One of various of parasitic insects, especially subfamily Aphidiinae.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Incubus in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | incube , cauchemar, terreurs nocturnes , fardeau, boulet |
| German | Inkubus , Albtraum , Last, Kreuz |
| Portuguese | íncubo , pesadelo |
| Spanish | íncubo , pesadilla , cruz, carga |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does incubus come from?
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”)).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).