incubus
/ˈɪŋ.kjʊ.bəs/
"incubus" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“incubus” is an uncommon English word, ranked #51,770 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #51,770
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An evil spirit supposed to oppress people while asleep, especially to have sex with women as they sleep.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | incubus |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈɪŋ.kjʊ.bəs/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #51,770 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “incubus” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for incubus is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈɪŋ.kjʊ.bəs/. Corpus data places it at rank #51,770 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
No generated misspelling entries exist for incubus in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: 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”)). The correct English form is incubus, spelled I-N-C-U-B-U-S.
Definition
- 1An evil spirit supposed to oppress people while asleep, especially to have sex with women as they sleep.
- 2A feeling of oppression during sleep, sleep paralysis; night terrors, a nightmare.
- 3Any oppressive thing or person; a burden.
- 4One of various of parasitic insects, especially subfamily Aphidiinae.
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”)).
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “incubus”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is I-N-C-U-B-U-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈɪŋ.kjʊ.bəs/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.