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Glite Dictionary
🧠 Wolf transformation belief 🐺 Like a werewolf
lycanthropic

lycanthropic

9.9
Having the look or behavior of a wolf, like a werewolf in stories
  • adjective
  • /ˌlaɪkənˈθrɒpɪk/
  • Specialized
translation icon : licántropo
  • In the story, the protagonist experienced a lycanthropic transformation under the full moon, becoming a wolf at night.

Examples

  • Wolf (1994) features Jack Nicholson as a lycanthropic editor-in-chief fending off the challenge of a younger editor on the make, played in full feral-yuppie mode by James Spader.

    Academic text (2016)

  • Two months ago, he was sure he had discovered... a serum to suppress my lycanthropic cycle.

    An American Werewolf in Paris (1997)

  • The ancient legend described a lycanthropic creature that roamed the forests, feared by all who heard its howls.

  • In the movie, the main character grapples with his lycanthropic nature, struggling to control his wolf-like instincts.

Synonyms

wolfish
vslycanthropic
1 6.9

Looking or acting like a wolf, often in a threatening way

focuses on mythic transformation and creature identity rather than mere traits
wolflike
vslycanthropic
6.8

Like a wolf in look or behaviour

includes a mythic change into a werecreature rather than general resemblance

How Wolf-Like

lycanthropic
  • Specialized
9.9
wolfish
1 6.9
doglike
1 3.7
canine
1 3.5

Surface Forms

lycanthropic positive

Morphology

lycanthropic = lycanthropy (opaque) = lycanthropy + ic

The adjective is formed from the noun 'lycanthropy' using the productive suffix '-ic' meaning 'relating to'.

Etymology

Lycanthropic comes from Greek roots lycan- ('wolf') and anthropos ('man'), so it literally means 'wolf-man'. That's why the word describes a person or thing that looks like a wolf or seems to change into one.