Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
banshee

banshee

24 9.9
A female spirit who wails to warn that someone in the family will die
  • noun
  • /ˈbænʃi/
  • Literature
translation icon : banshee
  • Then in the dark, he spun spooky tales about the banshees and the Little People.
  • banshee scream
  • banshee wail
  • banshee cry

Ferrell foaming at the mouth, screaming, yelling banshees.

Examples

  • "Can I not hear the wail of the banshees for me, as far as I am from my barren island home?"

    Fiction book (1997)

  • Your banshee is dead.

    Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)

  • I think it might be a banshee.

    Scream of the Banshee (2011)

  • "I saw it in a dream last night, right after I heard the banshee wailing.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • But there are no banshees on Inisherin.

    The Banshees of Inisherin (2022)

  • The sound keened up and down like a banshee driven insane, voice torn by more pain than can be endured.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • Dex could hear the wind now, a thin screeching sound like the wail of a distant banshee.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • The wind, light-voiced and sweet in the forest, sounded like banshees howling in the streets of the Stone-Elves' Lindens Lee.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • Instead of sitting decently at the table eating their dinners, they're howling and roaring at one another like a lot of banshees.

    Bringing Up Baby (1938)

  • According to Irish tradition, a banshee is said to wail when a family member is near death.

Synonyms

banshie
vsbanshee
  • Literature
9.9

A woman ghost in old Irish stories who cries to warn a family that someone will die

is the same spirit but shown with a different spelling form

Idioms

like a banshee
  • Informal
5 9.3

In a very loud and out of control way like someone crying or shouting

Compounds

banshee-like wail
9.2

A very loud, high cry that sounds like someone in great fear or pain

Surface Forms

banshee singular
banshees plural

Etymology

Banshee comes from Irish words bean 'woman' and sí 'fairy' or 'fairy hill'. So, a banshee is a 'woman of the fairies' who wails near a house to warn that someone will die.