Charybdis

//kəˈɹɪbdɪs// name

name ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    (Greek mythology) a ship-devouring whirlpool lying on the other side of a narrow strait from Scylla wordnet
Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A dangerous whirlpool on the coast of Sicily opposite Scylla on the Italian coast.

    "I have never yet been able to steer my lovers through the Scylla of presence, or the Charybdis of absence."

  2. 2
    A personification of the above whirlpool as a female monster. Greek
  3. 3
    Any dangerous whirlpool.

    "…that night, wee ſailed merrily by the Maſcarenas, a Charybdis in 21 degrees, var.13 and 17 minutes…"

Synonyms

All synonyms
backflowbackwashbackwaterdragoneddygulf

Example

More examples

"Tom is caught between Scylla and Charybdis."

Etymology

From Ancient Greek Χάρυβδις (Khárubdis).

Related phrases

between Scylla and Charybdis

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.