banshee

noun

Definition of bansheenext
as in demon
a female spirit in Irish and Scottish stories who cries loudly to warn people that someone is going to die soon claimed to have heard the terrifying wail of a banshee

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of banshee The bond between a rider and their banshee doesn't break, and chances are your bond with this two-figure set won't either. — Fran Ruiz, Space.com, 19 Dec. 2025 Then, like an alarm clock, howler monkeys unleashed their banshee shriek, staking their territory as the sun rose. — Ryan Knighton, AFAR Media, 31 Oct. 2025 His bronc riders look more like pietàs in mud; his barrel racers scream like banshees on horseback. — Casey Cep, New Yorker, 6 Oct. 2025 Temperance let loose a banshee wail. — Charna Flam, People.com, 25 Aug. 2025 See All Example Sentences for banshee
Recent Examples of Synonyms for banshee
  1. demon
  2. phantom
  3. ghoul
  4. vampire
  5. ghost
  6. wraith
  7. apparition
  8. hag
Noun
  • Later in the episode, Big Bang‘s Wil Wheaton shows up to reveal to Stuart that Bernadette is in fact a demon and is killed by Bert (Posehn) in a magic power duel.
    — Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 6 Aug. 2026
  • Slater’s script follows an exorcist names Jefferson Haddock (Bacon), who is called into an isolated witness protection property to deal with a terrifying demon, accidentally unleashing a force that threatens to end him and everything around him.
    — Borys Kit, HollywoodReporter, 6 Aug. 2026
Definition of demon
Noun
  • On the 1994 comeback album Gratuitous Sax & Senseless Violins, Sparks imagined Liberace, who died in 1987, making his own comeback in the afterlife, adored again as a phantom haunting the Earth.
    — Al Shipley, SPIN, 31 July 2026
  • Left behind are her great-grandmother’s haunting journals detailing the story of her own phantom, and subsequently, her brutal murder.
    — Jennifer Maas, Variety, 25 July 2026
Definition of phantom
Noun
  • Algol relates to the Arabic al-ghül, which signifies demon or ghoul.
    — Jan Tumlir, Artforum, 5 Aug. 2026
  • Night of the Living Dead centers all the action at a farmhouse, where seven people attempt to ward off the ghouls — without any prior knowledge of how to do so.
    — Wesley Stenzel, Entertainment Weekly, 5 June 2026
Definition of ghoul
Noun
  • The 1994 classic, an adaptation of Anne Rice‘s 1976 novel, featured Louis (Brad Pitt) telling the story of how he was turned into a vampire by Lestat (Tom Cruise).
    — Angela Andaloro, PEOPLE, 4 Aug. 2026
  • As the villains, Jamie Foxx and Dane DeHaan are trapped in Z-movie outfits and motivations — Foxx’s Max Diillon is a Spidey fan transformed by an eel attack, DeHaan’s Harry Osborn is basically a vampire.
    — Darren Franich, Entertainment Weekly, 1 Aug. 2026
Definition of vampire
Noun
  • Crow-Armstrong’s single to center leading off the 11th sent Kelly, the ghost runner, home from second.
    — Paul Sullivan, Chicago Tribune, 7 Aug. 2026
  • There’s ghosts, there’s futures, there’s residue in this building—there’s sweat from colonial histories that reside in brick and concrete for centuries.
    — Alex Greenberger, ARTnews.com, 6 Aug. 2026
Definition of ghost
Noun
  • Next comes the arrival of a tinkling blue ice cream truck manned by an eerily silent, smiling, wraith-like purveyor (Ari Millen) with a John Waters mustache.
    — Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 7 Aug. 2026
  • Pilots can see bad weather lurking in the distance hours before takeoff, glowing like a wraith on their digital maps.
    — Burkhard Bilger, New Yorker, 2 Mar. 2026
Definition of wraith
Noun
  • That is, until miraculous apparitions turn it into a place to be.
    — Marta Balaga, Variety, 17 July 2026
  • The music starts to shift beginning with the third episode, when Lestat becomes overwhelmed by the apparition of his abusive maker and other ghosts, including Claudia, whose killing he’d been forced to witness firsthand.
    — Hannah Giorgis Yohannes, Vanity Fair, 13 July 2026
Definition of apparition
Noun
  • Pinned beneath her rotting legs in his recliner chair, Loftis narrowly escapes by yanking its lever, catapulting the hag over his head.
    — Tessa Solomon, ARTnews.com, 15 July 2026
  • They're also known as hag moth caterpillars.
    — Samantha Johnson, Martha Stewart, 20 June 2026
Definition of hag

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Cite this Entry

“Banshee.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/banshee. Accessed 10 Aug. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on banshee

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about banshee

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