Sylph

//sɪlf// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    An invisible being of the air.

    "Her heart fluttered with expectation—her step was buoyant with hope, and she sprung into the carriage with the lightness of a sylph."

  2. 2
    an elemental being believed to inhabit the air wordnet
  3. 3
    The elemental being of air, usually female.
  4. 4
    a slender graceful young woman wordnet
  5. 5
    A slender woman or girl, usually graceful and sometimes with the implication of sublime station over everyday people. broadly
Show 1 more definition
  1. 6
    Any of the mainly dark green and blue hummingbirds (genus Aglaiocercus), the male of which has a long forked tail.

Synonyms

All synonyms
arielbansheebefindbrowniecluricaunecorrigan

Example

More examples

"Her heart fluttered with expectation—her step was buoyant with hope, and she sprung into the carriage with the lightness of a sylph."

Etymology

First attested in 1657. From New Latin sylphes, coined by Paracelsus in the 16th century. The coinage may derive from Latin sylvestris (“of the woods”) and nympha (“nymph”). Ultimately from the root silva (“woods, forest”). Related to sylvan. More at Wikipedia.

More for "sylph"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

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