Meaning & use
werewolf
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Meanings
nouncountable
In stories and old beliefs, a person who can change into a wolf, often when the moon is full.
Grammar: Countable noun; the plural is irregular: werewolves, not werewolfs.
Patterns
- a werewolf transforms into a wolf
- be bitten by a werewolf
- turn into a werewolf
In the film, a young man becomes a werewolf after he is bitten by one.
Villagers in the old story blamed the attacks on a werewolf.
The legend says a werewolf can only be killed with a silver bullet.
nouncountablefigurativehumorous
A person who behaves in a fierce, uncontrolled way, as if they were such a creature.
Grammar: Used figuratively, often with a joking or disapproving tone; still takes the plural werewolves.
Patterns
- be a werewolf at something
- turn into a werewolf
He turns into a werewolf whenever the team loses.
My brother is a werewolf at the dinner table when he is hungry.
Word forms
| plural | werewolves |
|---|
Common combinations
- a full moon turns someone into a werewolf
- In the legend, a full moon turns an ordinary man into a werewolf.
- be bitten by a werewolf
- The story begins when a traveler is bitten by a werewolf in the woods.
- a pack of werewolves
- A pack of werewolves ran through the forest in the movie's final scene.
- a werewolf movie
- We watched an old werewolf movie on Halloween.
- the curse of the werewolf
- The novel is about the curse of the werewolf and how it passes from person to person.
Synonyms and how they differ
- lycanthrope
- The technical or literary term for the same creature; it sounds formal or scientific, while werewolf is the everyday word.
- wolfman
- A more informal, older word for a man who turns into a wolf; it is common in old films but less common today.
- monster
- A much broader word for any frightening creature; it does not mean specifically a person who becomes a wolf.
Word family
- lycanthropy noun
- The supposed condition of changing into a wolf; also used in medicine for a rare mental condition.
- werewolfism noun
- A rare word for the state of being a werewolf.
Commonly confused: werewolf or wolf? werewolf or warlock?
werewolf vs wolf
A wolf is a real wild animal; a werewolf is a human who turns into a wolf in stories and legends.
werewolf vs warlock
A warlock is a man who uses magic (often evil magic); it sounds similar but has nothing to do with wolves.
Practice
Which sentence uses the plural of "werewolf" correctly?
Choose one answer.
Werewolf ends in -f, and words like this often change -f to -ves in the plural, so werewolves is correct. Werewolfs follows the regular rule but is not the accepted form; werewolfes and werewolvies are not English plurals.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “werewolf”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.