A female demon; a woman thought to be demonic, evil, or possessed by a demon.
From 'demon' + the feminine suffix '-ess' (as in actress, lioness). This follows the pattern of creating female forms from male nouns, though in modern English gender-neutral 'demon' is increasingly preferred.
Words like 'demoness' remind us that English used to mark gender religiously—we had actor/actress, demon/demoness—but modern usage is shedding these distinctions because we've rethought why gender mattered in the first place.
Gendered suffix '-ess' marks female demon as derivative category from default 'demon'; reinforces pattern where female versions are marked/diminished versions of male generic.
Use 'demon' as gender-neutral term regardless of entity's gender presentation.
["demon","malevolent entity"]
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.