incubus

• She rushed away to the house in her headlong style; met Hester in one of the corridors; stopped her to exclaim, "Cheer up, Hetty, the incubus is leaving by the first train in the morning," and then finding Pinkerton, despatched her for orders to Mrs. Bernard Temple A few moments later, Antonia had forced her way into Susy's presence Mother and I leave to-morrow," she said. —  Red Rose and Tiger Lily or, In a Wider World
• But now that the incubus was to be removed, there was a strong pressure to prevent--and bitter denunciations of--the outrage Leaders came out in the papers, advising against the practicability; scathing articles about perfidy sometimes appeared; and it was, on all hands, prophesied that the government would lose caste and dignity, and become a traveling caravan if the change were made. —  Four Years in Rebel Capitals An Inside View of Life in the Southern Confederacy from Birth to Death
• In the case you speak of you will only have removed the incubus--which, I grant you, she must and you must feel as horrid. —  The Outcry
• What room, they will exclaim, will men have to advance in the arts and science, not to speak of development of doctrine, if this incubus is to rest upon them, and weigh them down, and terrify them into silence and inaction The best answer to this is doubtless an enlarged view of Catholic Christendom, from the earliest times down, for in that period the Pope did possess the prerogative of infallibility, though it has only recently been defined as a dogma. —  Donahoe's Magazine, Volume 15, No. 1, January 1886
• He hated the house--it was an incubus, a millstone; but He visibly despaired. —  On the Stairs

Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the Same Context