succubus
/ˈsʌk.jʊ.bəs/noun
succubus is spelled S-U-C-C-U-B-U-S: 8 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 51,129th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, succubus means “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…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of succubus is succubi or succubuses.
How many letters and syllables are in succubus?
| Letters | 8: S-U-C-C-U-B-U-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 51,129th 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 succubus?
Succubus appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 51,129th 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 succubus?
- US /ˈsʌk.jʊ.bəs/
- US /ˈsʌk.jə.bəs/
Succubus 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-succubus.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with succubus
Sounds like: succubous (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of succubus
- succubi plural
- succubuses plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does succubus mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
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.
- 2
A strumpet, whore or prostitute.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Succubus in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense female demon:
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 succubus come from?
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”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).