skinwalking means in certain Native American mythologies, the ability to transform into any animal when wearing its pelt. It carries an Arena rating of 1551, earned across 2 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, skinwalking ranks #774 of 17,118 for Scariest Words, #955 of 17,093 for Most Storied Words, #1,131 of 17,130 for Most Ingenious Words, #1,164 of 17,115 for Most Vivid Words.
Why “skinwalking” is a great word
The ability or practice of transforming into an animal by wearing its pelt, rooted in certain Native American mythologies. From skin ('the hide of an animal') and walking ('moving on foot'). Unlike 'shapeshifting,' a broad term for metamorphosis not bound to ritual, or 'therianthropy,' which implies an innate spiritual state, skinwalking is a specific, tangible, and borrowed act. It is the shaman shrugging into a damp wolf-pelt at dusk, feeling the coarse fur graft to his shoulders; it is the dancer’s human footfall disappearing beneath the silent pad of a mountain lion’s tread; it is the rasp of coyote hide against the throat in the dark before dawn. The pelt does not disguise; it rewrites—so that identity is not born but worn, and the line between self and other is as thin and porous as a hide stretched over fire.
Etymology
From skin + walking.
noun
- In certain Native American mythologies, the ability to transform into any animal when wearing its pelt.
Words closest in meaning
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