Now updated for CSW19. New words, if any, and new inflections of existing words, are shown in red.
| aesir | the Norse gods. |
| afreet afrit | in Arabian mythology, an evil spirit or giant monster. |
| aitu | in Polynesia, a demigod. |
| alastor | an avenging deity in Greek tragedy. |
| amazon | one of a fabulous race of female warriors in Scythia; hence, a female warrior, a tall, powerful woman. |
| amoretto | a cherub or spirit of love > AMORETTOS or AMORETTI. |
| angel | a divine messenger. |
| angelic angelical | of or like an angel. |
| anguiped anguipede | a mythical giant having feet or legs in the form of snakes > ANGUIPEDS, ANGUIPEDES. [L. anguis, snake, + pes, foot]. |
| apsaras | a divine water sprite > APSARASES. N.B. no APSARA*. |
| archangel | a top-ranking ANGEL. |
| atua | (Maori) a spirit, a demon. |
| auf | an elf's child. [ON alfr, elf]. |
| baal | a false god > BAALS or BAALIM. |
| bacchic | relating to the worship of Bacchus; orgiastic. |
| banshee banshie | in Irish folklore, a female spirit who wails and shrieks before the death of a member of a family. [Irish bean sidhe, woman of fairyland]. |
| bodach | (Gaelic) a goblin or spectre. |
| bogeyism bogyism | the creation of bogies. |
| boogyman boogieman | a goblin, a bugbear, an object of special dread. |
| boggard boggart bogle boggle | a spectre or goblin. |
| brownie | a benevolent creature who may secretly help with domestic work. |
| bugaboo | a bugbear. [Welsh bwci bo, bogey]. |
| buggan buggane buggin | an evil spirit, a hobgoblin. |
| cacodaemon cacodemon | an evil spirit; a devil. [Gk. kakos, bad + daimon, spirit]. |
| celestial | a celestial being. |
| changeling | a child substituted for another, especially one supposed to be left by the fairies. |
| cherub | in Christian theology, a member of the second order of the ninefold celestial hierarchy, ranking directly below the SERAPHIM and above the THRONES > CHERUBS or CHERUBIM. |
| daemon daimon | a spirit holding a middle place between gods and men. |
| daemonic daimonic | having the qualities of a DAEMON or DAIMON. |
| deev div | in Iranian (esp. Zoroastrian) mythology: a demonic power. |
| dei | pl. DEUS, god. |
| deil | (Scots) devil. |
| deity | a god. |
| demigod | a half-god; a person whose nature is partly divine, esp a hero fabled to be, or idolized as, the offspring of a god and a mortal. |
| demigoddess | a half-goddess; a woman whose nature is partly divine, esp a heroine fabled to be, or idolized as, the offspring of a god and a mortal. |
| demiurge demiurgus | an inferior god who created world; a creative power or spirit. [Gk. demiourgos, from demos, the people + ergon, a work]. The pl. of DEMIURGUS is DEMIURGUSES. |
| demon | an evil spirit or devil. |
| demoness | a female demon. |
| demoniac | a person possessed by a demon or evil spirit. |
| demoniacal | like a DEMONIAC. |
| demonian | relating to, or having the nature of, a demon. |
| demonic demonical | of or like a demon. |
| demonry | demonic activity. |
| deus | a god > DI or DEI. |
| dev deva | a Hindu god; a divine being. |
| devil | a chief evil spirit; (verb) to season highly and broil. Pt. DEVILED or DEVILLED. |
| devildom | the realm of devils. |
| deviless | a she-devil. |
| devilet devilkin | a little devil. |
| devilship | the character or person of a devil or the Devil. |
| devling | a small devil, a DEVILET. |
| dibbuk dybbuk | a dead person's soul inhabiting a living person > DIBBUKS or DIBBUKIM; DYBBUKS or DYBBUKIM. |
| div | see DEEV. |
| divineness | the quality of being divine; superhuman or supreme excellence. |
| divinity | the quality of being divine; a spirit possessing this quality. |
| divinise divinize | to invest with a divine character. |
| djinn etc. | one of a class of spirits in Muslim theology. The forms of this word are a total mess with great confusion over plural and singular, but possibilities can be tabulated as follows: |
| Singular | Plural |
| DJINN | DJINNS |
| DJIN | DJINS |
| DJINNI | DJINN (not DJINNIS*) |
| DJINNY | DJINN (not DJINNIES*) |
| GENIE | GENIES or GENII or GINN |
| JIN | JINS |
| JINN | JINNS |
| JINNI | JINN or JINNIS |
| JINNEE | JINN (not JINNEES*) |
| dobbie dobby | a brownie. |
| doppelganger | a ghostly counterpart of a living person. |
| dryad | a wood nymph > DRYADS or DRYADES. [Gk. dryas, wood-nymph]. |
| dryadic | like a DRYAD. |
| duppy | in the West Indies, a ghost. |
| dwarf | in folklore, a small manlike creature, esp a metalworker > DWARFS or DWARVES. |
| dybbuk | see DIBBUK. |
| elf | in European folklore, a supernatural being, generally of human form but diminutive size, sometimes more malignant than a fairy; (verb) to tangle hair > ELFS, ELFING, ELFED. |
| elfhood elfishness elvishness | the state of being an elf. |
| elfin | a little elf. |
| elfish elvish | like an elf. |
| elfishly elvishly | in the manner of an elf. |
| elfland | the land of the elves or fairies. |
| elflike | like an ELF. |
| elven | of or relating to elves. |
| elvish | see ELFISH. |
| empusa empuse | a phantom or specter sent by Hecate; a genus of fungi parasitic on houseflies. |
| ephialtes | an evil spirit supposed to cause nightmares; nightmare > EPHIALTES. |
| erlking | a spirit that does mischief or evil, esp. to children. [Ger. Erlkonig, alder-king]. |
| eten ettin | a giant. |
| eudaemon eudemon eudaimon | a benevolent spirit. |
| faerie faery | the world of fairies, fairyland. |
| fairily | in the manner of a fairy. |
| fairy | a creature of folklore, an imaginary being, generally of diminutive and graceful human form, capable of kindly or unkindly acts towards man; (adj.) like a fairy > FAIRIER, FAIRIEST. |
| fairydom | the world of fairies. |
| fairyhood | the state of being a fairy. |
| fairyism | the state of being a fairy. |
| fairyland | the land of the FAIRIES. |
| fairylike | like a FAIRY. |
| fantasm phantasm | an airy or insubstantial figure, an apparition, a spectre. |
| fantom | a PHANTOM. |
| faun | a rural deity represented as a man with a goat's ears, horns, tail, and hind legs. |
| faunlike | like a FAUN. |
| fetch | a WRAITH or DOPPELGANGER. |
| fiend | a devil. |
| flibbertigibbet | orig. an imp; now more usually a gossipy, flighty person. |
| garuda | a Hindu demigod, part man, part bird. |
| genie | see DJINN. |
| genius | the tutelary or attendant spirit in classical pagan belief allotted to every person at birth, or to a place, institution, etc > GENIUSES or GENII. |
| ghoul | in Arabic mythology, a desert demon preying on travellers; gen. an evil spirit or demon supposed to rob graves and devour corpses. [Arabic ghul]. |
| ghoulie | a ghoul. |
| giantry | the race of giants. |
| glendoveer | a heavenly spirit. |
| gnome | a mythical sprite guarding the inner parts of the earth and its treasures; a dwarf or goblin; a pithy saying > GNOMES or (in the sense of a saying) GNOMAE. |
| gnomelike | like a gnome. |
| gnomish | like a gnome. |
| gobbeline | a goblin. |
| goblin | an unpleasant or mischievous sprite in the form of an old man. |
| god | a superhuman being, an object of worship; (verb) to deify, treat as a god > GODDED, GODDING. |
| goddess | a female GOD. |
| godlily | in a godly manner. |
| godliness | the quality of being GODLY. |
| godling | a diminutive god. |
| godly | like a god > GODLIER, GODLIEST. |
| godship | the rank or character of a god; divinity. |
| golem | an artificial human endowed with life by supernatural means. [Yiddish goylem f. Heb. golem shapeless mass]. |
| gremlin | a goblin accused of vexing airmen, causing mischief and mechanical trouble to aircraft; any imaginary mischievous creature. |
| gytrash | a ghost or apparition. |
| hamadryad | a wood nymph associated with one particular tree; also, a king cobra > HAMADRYADES or HAMADRYADS. [Gk. hamadryas, from hama, together + drys (oak) tree]. |
| hob | a supernatural creature or fairy, such as Robin Goodfellow. |
| hobbit | one of a race of imaginary beings, half human size, hole-dwelling and hairy-footed, invented by JRR Tolkien in his novel The Hobbit. |
| hobbitry | the state of being a HOBBIT. |
| hobgoblin | a mischievous fairy; a frightful apparition. |
| hobgoblinism hobgoblinry | the state of being a HOBGOBLIN. (Curious when there is no GOBLINISM* or GOBLINRY*, but there you go...). |
| hoblike | suggestive of an elf. |
| houri | any of the virgins of the Muslim paradise, promised as wives to believers; hence, a voluptuously beautiful woman > HOURIS. |
| imp | a little devil; (verb) to graft, to splice a falcon's broken feathers. |
| impish | like an IMP, mischievous. |
| incubus | an evil spirit that lies on women in their sleep; a nightmare > INCUBI or INCUBUSES. |
| jann | the least powerful order of JINN. |
| jin | see DJINN. |
| jinnee | see DJINN. |
| jinni | see DJINN. |
| jotun jotunn | a giant (in Norse myth). |
| jumbie jumby | a ghost or evil spirit. |
| kami | a Japanese divine being > KAMIS. |
| kehua | (Maori) a ghost, a spirit. |
| kobold | a mischievous elf in German folklore, found esp. in mines. |
| lar | the god relating to a house > LARES or LARS. |
| leprechaun leprechawn | a small supernatural creature in Irish folklore. |
| leprechaunish | like a LEPRECHAUN, a small supernatural creature in Irish folklore. |
| maelid | an apple nymph. [Gk. melon apple, soft-skinned fruit]. |
| mana | an impersonal supernatural force. |
| manes | spirits of the dead; ghosts. |
| manito manitou manitu | a name given by tribes of American Indians to a great spirit, whether good or evil, or to any object of worship. [Ojibwa manito]. |
| marid | a JINN of the most powerful class. |
| menshen | (Chinese) a door god. |
| merchild | the child of a mermaid > MERCHILDREN. |
| merfolk | mermen and mermaids. |
| mermaid mermaiden | a mythical creature with a woman's upper body and a fish's tail. |
| merman | a male of the MERMAID kind. |
| merpeople | mermaids and mermen. Cf. MERFOLKS. |
| monopod monopode | a one-footed person of fabulous Ethiopian race, with foot large enough to be a sunshade. |
| morphean morphetic | relating to Morpheus, the god of sleep. |
| naiad | a water-nymph; also, an aquatic larva of dragonfly > NAIADS or NAIADES. [GK. naias, -ados, plural -ades, from naein, to flow]. |
| nereid | a sea nymph, one of the daughters of Nereus, attendant upon Neptune > NEREIDES. Also, a marine polychaete worm, pl. NEREIDS. |
| nereis | a sea nymph, one of the daughters of Nereus > NEREIDES. |
| nimrod | any great hunter. [From the son of Cush in Bible, Genesis 10.8]. |
| nis nisse | in Scandinavian folklore, a brownie or goblin > NISSES. |
| nix | a water sprite (cf. NIXIE) > NIXES or NIXE; (verb) to veto or cancel. |
| nixie nixy | a female NIX or malignant water-spirit. |
| numen | a local or presiding divinity; a god in human form > NUMINA. |
| numinous | supernatural, mysterious; filled with a sense of the presence of divinity; (noun) something filled with a sense of the presence of divinity. |
| nymph | one of the divinities who lived in mountains, rivers, tree etc. |
| nymphal nymphean nymphic nymphical nymphish | relating to nymphs. |
| nymphlike | like a nymph. |
| nymphly | resembling, or characteristic of, a nymph > NYMPHLIER, NYMPHLIEST. |
| oceanid | an ocean nymph > OCEANIDS or OCEANIDES. |
| ogre | a cannibalistic giant. |
| ogreish ogrish | like an ogre. |
| ogreism ogrism | the character or manners of an ogre. |
| ogress | a lady ogre. |
| ogrishly ogreishly | in the manner of an ogre. |
| ondine undine | a female water spirit. |
| oread | a mountain nymph > OREADS or OREADES. Cf. NAIAD, DRYAD. |
| orphic orphical | mystical, oracular. |
| panisc panisk | an inferior god, attendant upon Pan. |
| penates | the household gods of a Roman family. Cf. LARES. N.B. no PENATE*. |
| peri | in Persian mythology, a fairy > PERIS. |
| phantasm | an airy or insubstantial figure, an apparition, a spectre. |
| phantasma | a phantasm > PHANTASMATA. |
| phantom | an immaterial form, a spectre. |
| phantomy | like a phantom. |
| phantosme | (Spenser) a phantom. |
| phoebus | a sun god; the sun. |
| pisky pixie pixy | a small fairy. |
| pixieish pixyish | like a pixie. |
| pixiness | the state of being like a PIXY. |
| plutonian | of, relating to, or characteristic of Pluto or the lower world > infernal. |
| poltergeist | a spirit believed to manifest itself by making noises and moving physical objects. |
| pooka | in Irish folklore, a malevolent goblin. |
| pouke puck | a mischievous sprite. |
| promachos | a champion or defender; a tutelary god > PROMACHOSES. |
| puck | see POUKE. |
| puckish | like a PUCK, impish. |
| puckishly | in the manner of a PUCK. |
| rakshas | in Hindu mythology, an evil spirit > RAKSHASES. |
| rakshasa | in Hindu mythology, an evil spirit. |
| rawhead | a spectre mentioned to frighten children; as, rawhead and bloodybones. |
| rusalka | a Russian water-nymph. |
| sandman | a mythical being that brings sleep. |
| satanic satanical | devilish. |
| satanicalness | the state of being SATANICAL. |
| satyr | a Greek god of the woodlands, with a tail and long ears, represented by the Romans as part goat. |
| satyra satyress | a female satyr. |
| satiric satyrical | of satyrs; having a chorus of satyrs. |
| satyrisk | a little satyr. |
| satyrlike | like a satyr. |
| seamaid | a mermaid. |
| seelie | good benevolent fairies. No —S. |
| seraph | in Christian theology, a member of the highest order of the ninefold celestial hierarchy > SERAPHS, SERAPHIM, previously also SERAPHIMS, SERAPHIN, SERAPHINS; SERAPHIN and SERAPHIM also occur as obsolete singulars. |
| shaitan sheitan | an evil spirit. |
| shellycoat | a water goblin dressed in shells. |
| sidh sidhe | (Irish) fairy people. |
| silen silenus | a satyr-like woodland god, an attendant of Bacchus. The pl. of SILENUS is SILENI. |
| siren | a kind of mermaid. |
| skyborn | of heavenly birth. |
| spectre spectre | an apparition. |
| spook | a ghost; a spy; (verb) to frighten, startle. |
| spookily | in the manner of a spook. |
| spookish | spooky. |
| spooky | like a spook, ghostly > SPOOKIER, SPOOKIEST. |
| spright | a spirit; (verb) to haunt, bedevil. |
| sprite | a goblin, elf, imp, impish or implike person. |
| spriteful | impish. |
| succuba | a female demon or fiend > SUCCUBAE or SUCCUBAS. |
| succubine | of or pertaining to SUCCUBI. |
| succubus | a demon assuming female form to have intercourse with men in their sleep > SUCCUBUSES or SUCCUBI. |
| sylph | an elemental being without a soul believed to inhabit the air; a slim graceful woman or girl. |
| sylphic | of or like a SYLPH. |
| sylphid sylphide | a young SYLPH. |
| sylphine | pertaining to a SYLPH, a spirit of the air. |
| sylphlike | like a sylph. |
| sylvan | (noun) a wood-god, a forest-dweller. |
| syren | a siren. |
| taisch taish | an apparition of someone about to die. [Gaelic taibhis, apparition]. |
| tangie | an Orcadian water-spirit, appearing as a seahorse, or a man covered with seaweed. [From tang, seaweed]. |
| tenebrio | a night spirit, a night prowler > TENEBRIOS. |
| thelf | (Spenser) the elf > THELVES. |
| titan | (with capital) one of the elder gods overthrown by Zeus; (without capital) anything gigantic. |
| titaness | a female TITAN. |
| tokoloshe tikoloshe tokoloshi | in Bantu folklore, a hairy malevolent dwarflike creature with supernatural powers. [Zulu tikoloshe]. |
| troll | an evil-tempered ugly dwarf (or, earlier, giant). |
| trollish | resembling a troll. |
| trow | another form of TROLL; also, a verb, to believe. |
| tutelar | a guardian spirit, god or saint. |
| undergod | a lower or inferior god; a subordinate deity; a demigod. |
| undine | see ONDINE. |
| undivine | not divine. |
| unseelie | evil malevolent fairies. No —S. |
| valkyr valkyrie walkyrie | in Norse mythology, a chooser of the slain. |
| vampire | in E. European folklore, a dead person that leaves the grave to drink the blood of the living; (verb) to prey upon as a vampire. |
| vampiric | like a vampire. |
| vampirise vampirize | to play the vampire. |
| vampirish | like a vampire. |
| vampirism | the practice of a vampire. |
| wahconda wakanda waconda | a supernatural force in Sioux belief. |
| wairua | (Maori) a spirit, a soul. |
| walkyrie | see VALKYR. |
| wili | in the ballet Giselle, the spirit of a girl who dies before her wedding day. |
| wirricow worricow worrycow | the devil, a hobgoblin, anything frightening. |
| woodwose woodhouse | a wild man of the woods, used in heraldry as a supporter. |
| wraith | a spectre; an apparition, esp of a living person. |
| zombi zombie | in voodoo, a supernatural force or spirit that can enter a dead body; also, the soulless body that is revive. [Kimbundu nzambi (god, ghost). Kimbundu is a Bantu language of northern Angola]. |
| zomboid | resembling a zombie. |