beldams

noun

variants or beldames
plural of beldam
as in hags
a mean or ugly old woman knocking on the beldam's door on Halloween was once an annual ritual for the kids in the neighborhood

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for beldams
  1. hags
  2. witches
Noun
  • The island village is beset by sea hags, serial killers, creepy clowns and other evils that interfere with Tom’s dream of turning Widow’s Bay into a Martha’s Vineyard-like tourist destination.
    — Alison Herman, Variety, 17 June 2026
  • Martha’s Vineyard also has knife-wielding men in masks and creepy sea hags!
    — Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 11 June 2026
Definition of hags
Noun
  • She and Kidman reprise their roles as sisters Sally and Gillian Owens, witches in Massachusetts who must once more confront a family curse that causes the deaths of men whom women in their family fall in love with.
    — Tommy McArdle, PEOPLE, 20 Aug. 2026
  • Black cats can be seen as bad omens, sometimes associated with witches and with the old superstition to not let a black cat cross your path.
    — Maddie Rhodes, USA Today, 17 Aug. 2026
Definition of witches
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.

Browse Nearby Words

beldam
beldams
beleaguer
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Beldams.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/beldams. Accessed 25 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of tilde

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

How to Pronounce the Trickiest Menu Items

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List

Even More Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Words of the Week - Aug. 21

16 Glee-ridden Words from Schitt's Creek
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
alt-684346df967d5
Add A Letter Quiz Pick the letter that goes in the same spot in fou...
See All