dybbuk
2
9.9
- noun
- /ˈdɪbʌk/
- Literature
:
dybbuk
- In Jewish folklore, a dybbuk is believed to take over a person's body and control their actions.
- play The Dybbuk
Examples
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The dybbuk feeds on fear.
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The entertainer and the dybbuk. Sid Fleischman.
Academic text (2009) -
Have you ever heard of a dybbuk?
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Then you talked to a dybbuk.
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A dybbuk had crossed over and taken his place.
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This is why she thinks you're a dybbuk.
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A dybbuk doesn't eat.
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When she stopped, she looked up at her stained face and thought of something she'd heard years ago when she'd seen a production of The Dybbuk.
Fiction book (1998) -
You may remember a few years back, some wag put a dybbuk box up for sale, claiming to have suffered various ill effects from the spirits within.
Blog text (7) -
You are obviously the victim of some inner disturbance... in which, well, for the want of a better word... your guilts have led you to a state of fantasy... in which, um, "A," you are burdened with some fantastic wealth... and... and "B," you are eager to rid yourself of it... as in the ancient ritual of exorcising some dybbuk or, uh, evil spirit.
Synonyms
A harmful spirit that enters and controls a living person
Surface Forms
Etymology
The word dybbuk comes from the Hebrew dibbuq, which means 'attachment' and from the root d-b-q meaning 'to stick' or 'cling'. So think of a spirit that 'sticks to' a person and stays inside them—this is why a dybbuk is an evil spirit that takes control of someone.