plural dybbukim
ˌdi-bu̇-ˈkēm 
also dybbuks
also dybbuks
: a wandering soul believed in Jewish folklore to enter and control a living body until exorcised by a religious rite
Examples of dybbuk in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
If your image of Old World Jewry comes from Grade’s contemporary Isaac Bashevis Singer, with his kabbalists, dybbuks, and elaborate rabbinic courts, swap in Lithuanian Talmudists conducting self-critique and doing pilpul—close textual analysis—in spartan houses of study.
—
Judith Shulevitz, The Atlantic, 16 Mar. 2025
The family needed enough money to repair the havoc a dybbuk could wreak.
—Jennifer Wilson, The New Yorker, 1 July 2024
Whether or not the real dybbuk box is cursed is up for debate.
—Megan McCluskey, TIME, 5 Apr. 2024
Like a dybbuk wrongfully possessing a soul, the disorder could be exposed and perhaps eliminated.
—Jeff Wheelwright, Discover Magazine, 20 May 2012
That dybbuk had set up shop in her mother’s stomach and had not wanted to leave.
—Olga Tokarczuk, The New Yorker, 13 Sep. 2021
Parents must work together to save their young daughter from a dybbuk, a malevolent spirit that inhabits and ultimately devours its human host.
—Los Angeles Times, 26 Mar. 2021
The dybbuk stops here regardless, and The Vigil is nothing if not determined to break out every trick in the malevolent-spirit-run-amuck book to spook, unsettle, and jar you.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 25 Feb. 2021
When a little girl named Em unleashes a demon called the dybbuk—the taker of children—and becomes possessed, a series of scream-out-loud moments follow.
2.
—Noelle Devoe, Seventeen, 8 Oct. 2014
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Judith Shulevitz, The Atlantic, 16 Mar. 2025
The family needed enough money to repair the havoc a dybbuk could wreak.
—Jennifer Wilson, The New Yorker, 1 July 2024
Whether or not the real dybbuk box is cursed is up for debate.
—Megan McCluskey, TIME, 5 Apr. 2024
Like a dybbuk wrongfully possessing a soul, the disorder could be exposed and perhaps eliminated.
—Jeff Wheelwright, Discover Magazine, 20 May 2012
That dybbuk had set up shop in her mother’s stomach and had not wanted to leave.
—Olga Tokarczuk, The New Yorker, 13 Sep. 2021
Parents must work together to save their young daughter from a dybbuk, a malevolent spirit that inhabits and ultimately devours its human host.
—Los Angeles Times, 26 Mar. 2021
The dybbuk stops here regardless, and The Vigil is nothing if not determined to break out every trick in the malevolent-spirit-run-amuck book to spook, unsettle, and jar you.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 25 Feb. 2021
When a little girl named Em unleashes a demon called the dybbuk—the taker of children—and becomes possessed, a series of scream-out-loud moments follow.
2.
—Noelle Devoe, Seventeen, 8 Oct. 2014
Cite this Entry
“Dybbuk.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dybbuk. Accessed 29 Mar. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share