MYTHICAL CREATURE

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does mythical creature mean? 

• MYTHICAL CREATURE (noun)
  The noun MYTHICAL CREATURE has 1 sense:

1. a monster renowned in folklore and myth

  Familiarity information: MYTHICAL CREATURE used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• MYTHICAL CREATURE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A monster renowned in folklore and myth

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

mythical creature; mythical monster

Hypernyms ("mythical creature" is a kind of...):

mythical being (an imaginary being of myth or fable)

monster (an imaginary creature usually having various human and animal parts)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "mythical creature"):

amphisbaena ((classical mythology) a serpent with a head at each end of its body)

loup-garou; lycanthrope; werewolf; wolfman (a monster able to change appearance from human to wolf and back again)

Typhon ((Greek mythology) a monster with a hundred heads who breathed out flames; son of Typhoeus and father of Cerberus and the Chimera and the Sphinx)

Typhoeus ((Greek mythology) son of Gaea and Tartarus who created the whirlwinds; had a terrifying voice and 100 dragon heads that spurted fire)

troll ((Scandanavian folklore) a supernatural creature (either a dwarf or a giant) that is supposed to live in caves or in the mountains)

Sphinx ((Greek mythology) a riddling winged monster with a woman's head and breast on a lion's body; daughter of Typhon)

salamander (reptilian creature supposed to live in fire)

roc (mythical bird of prey having enormous size and strength)

Nemean lion ((Greek mythology) an enormous lion strangled by Hercules as the first of his 12 labors)

Minotaur ((Greek mythology) a mythical monster with the head of a bull and the body of a man; slain by Theseus)

mantichora; manticora; manticore; mantiger (a mythical monster having the head of man (with horns) and the body of a lion and the tail of a scorpion)

leviathan (monstrous sea creature symbolizing evil in the Old Testament)

Hydra ((Greek mythology) monster with nine heads; when struck off each head was replaced by two new ones)

Harpy ((Greek mythology) vicious winged monster; often depicted as a bird with the head of a woman)

griffin; griffon; gryphon (winged monster with the head of an eagle and the body of a lion)

Gorgon ((Greek mythology) any of three winged sister monsters and the mortal Medusa who had live snakes for hair; a glance at Medusa turned the beholder to stone)

Geryon ((Greek mythology) a mythical monster with three heads that was slain by Hercules)

dragon; firedrake (a creature of Teutonic mythology; usually represented as breathing fire and having a reptilian body and sometimes wings)

cockatrice (monster hatched by a reptile from a cock's egg; able to kill with a glance)

Chimaera; Chimera ((Greek mythology) fire-breathing female monster with a lion's head and a goat's body and a serpent's tail; daughter of Typhon)

Cerberus; hellhound ((Greek mythology) the three-headed dog guarding the entrance to Hades; son of Typhon)

centaur ((classical mythology) a mythical being that is half man and half horse)

basilisk ((classical mythology) a serpent (or lizard or dragon) able to kill with its breath or glance)

legendary creature (a monster that is unverifiable but popularly accepted as possibly factual)

Instance hyponyms:

Python ((Greek mythology) dragon killed by Apollo at Delphi)

Erinyes; Eumenides; Fury ((classical mythology) the hideous snake-haired monsters (usually three in number) who pursued unpunished criminals)