succubus
/ˈsʌk.jʊ.bəs/
"succubus" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“succubus” is an uncommon English word, ranked #51,426 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #51,426
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - 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 exhausti...
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | succubus |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈsʌk.jʊ.bəs/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #51,426 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “succubus” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for succubus is 8 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈsʌk.jʊ.bəs/. Corpus data places it at rank #51,426 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
succubus has no tracked misspelling variants, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: Alteration in Middle English (based on incubus m) of Late Latin succuba (“strumpet, especially a mythological fiend in female form who has intercourse with men in their sleep”), from Latin succubo (“to lie under”), from sub- (“under”) + cubare (“to lie down”). The correct English form is succubus, spelled S-U-C-C-U-B-U-S.
Definition
- 1A 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.
- 2A strumpet, whore or prostitute.
Etymology
Alteration in Middle English (based on incubus m) of Late Latin succuba (“strumpet, especially a mythological fiend in female form who has intercourse with men in their sleep”), from Latin succubo (“to lie under”), from sub- (“under”) + cubare (“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 “succubus”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-U-C-C-U-B-U-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈsʌk.jʊ.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.