vampire means A mythological creature (usually humanoid and undead) said to feed on the blood or life energy of the living. It carries an Arena rating of 1530, earned across 2 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, vampire ranks #39 of 17,116 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #57 of 17,123 for Most Malleable Words, #271 of 17,115 for Most Vivid Words, #357 of 17,093 for Most Storied Words.
vampire is pronounced /ˈvæm.paɪ.ə(ɹ)/.
Why “vampire” is a great word
A mythological undead creature, typically humanoid, said to subsist on the blood or life essence of the living. From French vampire, from German Vampir, via Hungarian from a Slavic source, probably Serbo-Croatian vàmpīr, from Proto-Slavic *ǫpyrь, possibly from Proto-Turkic *ōpur ("glutton, witch, evil spirit"). Unlike a "ghoul," a graveyard scavenger that feasts on corpses, or the clinical "sanguivore," a mere biological category for any blood-feeder, the vampire is a supernatural parasite of profound intimacy, preying upon the very community from which it arose. It is the chill breath on a sleeper’s neck, the aristocratic pallor in a moonlit castle, the terrible, elegant persistence of a loved one’s face returned from the earth—the embodied fear that what we bury does not stay dead, and that our own appetites might outlast us.
Etymology
From French vampire, from German Vampir, via Hungarian from a Slavic word, probably Serbo-Croatian vàmpīr /ва̀мпӣр, from Proto-Slavic *ǫpyrь, further possibly from Proto-Turkic *ōpur (“glutton, witch, evil spirit”), or from native construction. Doublet of oupire.
noun
- A mythological creature (usually humanoid and undead) said to feed on the blood or life energy of the living.e.g.“Bram Stoker's novel Dracula built on centuries-old stories of vampires and also encouraged new growth of the mythology.”
- A person with habits traditionally ascribed to (literal) vampires, such as heliophobia, being a night owl, having pale skin, and so on.e.g.“Near-synonyms: heliophobe, goth”
- A person with the medical condition porphyria cutanea tarda, colloquially known as vampirism, with effects such as photosensitivity and brownish-red stained teeth.
- A blood-sucking bat; vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus)
- A person who drains one's time, energy, money, etc.e.g.“emotional vampire”
- A vamp: a seductive woman who exploits men.
- A medical technician who works with patients' blood; especially, a phlebotomist.e.g.“Only one technician in the hospital lab, in all we have encountered, uses it. […] Eric makes no complaints other than those directed at the vampires. Brenda and I do.”
- Synonym of anti-ship missile (ASM), particularly an incoming hostile one.e.g.“Vampire. Vampire. Vampire. Battle stations.”
verb
- To drain of energy or resources.
Words closest in meaning
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