Definition

1. Noun:
   • (Folklore/Mythology): A monstrous, often giant-like creature from folklore and fairy tales, typically depicted as cruel, frightening, and sometimes as a man-eater.
   • (Figurative): A person who is considered to be exceptionally cruel, brutal, or terrifying.

Usage and Examples

• Noun (Mythological Creature):
  • In the story, the hero had to defeat the ogre that lived in the castle.
  • The fairy tale featured a scary ogre who guarded a treasure.
• Noun (Figurative - Cruel Person):
  • My old boss was a real ogre; he never had a kind word for anyone.
  • She described the strict teacher as an ogre, but he was actually very fair.

Advanced Usage

• "Ogreish" (Adjective): Having the qualities of an ogre; cruel, brutish, or frightening.
  • His ogreish behavior made him very unpopular.
• Conceptual Use: The term is often used in literary or journalistic criticism to describe a tyrannical figure, especially in a position of power.
  • The dictator was portrayed as a political ogre by the foreign press.

Variants and Related Words

• Ogress (Noun): A female ogre.
  • The ogress in the story was just as fearsome as her husband.
• Ogreish (Adjective): Resembling or characteristic of an ogre. (See Advanced Usage)
• Ogre-like (Adjective): Similar to an ogre.

Synonyms

• Monster (for the mythological sense)
• Brute, Fiend, Tyrant (for the figurative sense of a cruel person)
• Giant (specifically for the large, monstrous aspect)

Idioms and Common Phrases

• "Like an ogre": Used to describe someone behaving in a very mean or terrifying manner.
  • He was shouting at the staff like an ogre.
• "Ogre of [a place/institution]": A common metaphorical construction to label a notoriously harsh individual within a specific context.
  • He was known as the ogre of the finance department.

Noun

1. (folklore) a giant who likes to eat human beings
2. a cruel wicked and inhuman person