Synonyms for
Owl
Definition
a nocturnal bird of prey with large eyes, a facial disc, a hooked beak, and typically a loud hooting call
Synonyms & similar words
Synonyms by register
Formal
Antonyms
Common collocations
- wise as an owl
- owl hoot
- owl eyes
- owl pellet
- owl feather
- owl screech
- owl nest
Word family
Usage note
The word 'owl' is primarily used to refer to the bird. Figuratively, it's often associated with wisdom, but can also imply being nocturnal or even a bit foolish in some contexts.
Example sentences
- The owl flew silently through the forest.
- I heard an owl hooting outside my window last night.
- The owl's eyes were huge and round.
- The barn owl is a common sight in our area.
- The snowy owl is adapted to life in the Arctic.
Quotes
I cannot help thinking that the owl is the most beautifully aerodynamic bird in existence. - Terry Pratchett
I am half inclined to think we are all ghosts...It is not only what we have inherited from our father and mother that walks in us. It is all sorts of dead ideas, and lifeless old beliefs, and so forth. They have no vitality, but they cling to us all the same, and we cannot shake them off. Whenever I take up a newspaper, I seem to see ghosts gliding between the lines. There must be ghosts all the country over, as thick as the sands of the sea. And then we are, one and all, so pitifully afraid of the light. - Henrik Ibsen
Ghosts