incubus Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a male demon believed to lie on sleeping persons and to have sexual intercourse with sleeping women
  2. noun a situation resembling a terrifying dream
    nightmare.
  3. noun someone who depresses or worries others

WordNet

In"cu*bus noun
Etymology
L., the nightmare. Cf. Incubate.
Wordforms
plural E Incubuses L Incubi
Definitions
  1. A demon; a fiend; a lascivious spirit, supposed to have sexual intercourse with women by night. Tylor.
    The devils who appeared in the female form were generally called succubi; those who appeared like men incubi, though this distinction was not always preserved. Lecky.
  2. (Med.) The nightmare. See Nightmare.
    Such as are troubled with incubus, or witch-ridden, as we call it. Burton.
  3. Any oppressive encumbrance or burden; anything that prevents the free use of the faculties.
    Debt and usury is the incubus which weighs most heavily on the agricultural resources of Turkey. J. L. Farley.

Webster 1913