Meaning & use
nymph
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Meanings
nouncountable
In old Greek and Roman stories, a young female spirit linked to nature, such as a river, tree or mountain.
Grammar: Countable: a water nymph, forest nymphs.
Patterns
- a water nymph
- a forest nymph
The myth tells of a nymph who lived in the spring.
Painters often showed nymphs dancing beside rivers.
A wood nymph guided the hero through the forest.
nouncountablebiology
The young form of some insects, like dragonflies, that looks like the adult but has no wings yet.
Grammar: Used in biology: a dragonfly nymph lives in water.
Patterns
- a dragonfly nymph
A dragonfly nymph lives underwater for months before it emerges.
The nymph sheds its skin several times as it grows.
Anglers sometimes use an artificial nymph to catch trout.
nouncountableliteraryhumorous
A graceful young woman, in a poetic or humorous way.
Grammar: Literary or playful; unusual in everyday speech.
The poet compared her to a nymph gliding across the lawn.
She appeared like a nymph in her flowing dress.
He described the dancer as a nymph of the stage.
Word forms
| plural | nymphs |
|---|
Common combinations
- water nymph
- A water nymph lived in the lake in the legend.
- wood nymph
- The wood nymph vanished among the trees.
- dragonfly nymph
- A dragonfly nymph hunts small creatures underwater.
- nymph and satyr
- The painting shows a nymph and a satyr.
- sea nymph
- Sailors told tales of a sea nymph who sang to them.
Synonyms and how they differ
- sprite
- Sprite is a small, playful spirit from folklore, while nymph belongs to Greek and Roman myth and is tied to a place.
- fairy
- Fairy comes from European folk tales and is usually tiny with wings, whereas nymphs look like young women.
- naiad
- Naiad is a narrower term for a nymph of fresh water.
- larva
- Larva is a different insect stage that looks very unlike the adult, whereas a nymph resembles a wingless adult.
Opposites
Word family
- nymphal adjective
- relating to a nymph
- nymphet noun
- a word best avoided because of its disturbing associations
- nymphaea noun
- the scientific name for water lilies
Commonly confused: nymph or nymphomaniac?
nymph vs nymphomaniac
This is a different and somewhat offensive word, not a general term for a nymph.
Practice
A dragonfly ___ spends its early life in water and has no wings.
Choose one answer.
Dragonflies go through a nymph stage. A pupa is a stage in insects with complete metamorphosis, and larvae is plural and does not fit the singular article.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “nymph”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.