creature

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crea·ture

(krē′chər)

a. A living being, especially an animal: land creatures; microscopic creatures in a drop of water.

b. A human.

c. An imaginary or fantastical being: mythological creatures; a creature from outer space.

2. One dependent on or subservient to another.

3. Something created.

crea′tur·al adj.

crea′ture·li·ness n.

crea′ture·ly adj.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

creature

(ˈkriːtʃə)

1. a living being, esp an animal

2. something that has been created, whether animate or inanimate: a creature of the imagination.

3. a human being; person: used as a term of scorn, pity, or endearment

4. a person who is dependent upon another; tool or puppet

[C13: from Church Latin crēatūra, from Latin crēare to create]

ˈcreatural, ˈcreaturely adj

ˈcreatureliness n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

crea•ture

(ˈkri tʃər)

n.

1. an animal, esp. a nonhuman.

2. any unspecific being: creatures of the imagination.

3. person; human being: a lovely creature.

4. a person under the control or influence of another.

[1250–1300; Middle English < Late Latin creātūra act of creating. See create, -ure]

crea′tur•al, crea′ture•ly, adj.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Noun	1.	creature - a living organism characterized by voluntary movement animal, animate being, beast, brute, fauna organism, being - a living thing that has (or can develop) the ability to act or function independently ritual killing, sacrifice - the act of killing (an animal or person) in order to propitiate a deity tracking, trailing - the pursuit (of a person or animal) by following tracks or marks they left behind animal kingdom, Animalia, kingdom Animalia - taxonomic kingdom comprising all living or extinct animals pest - any unwanted and destructive insect or other animal that attacks food or crops or livestock etc.; "he sprayed the garden to get rid of pests"; "many pests have developed resistance to the common pesticides" critter - a regional term for `creature' (especially for domestic animals) creepy-crawly - an animal that creeps or crawls (such as worms or spiders or insects) darter - a person or other animal that moves abruptly and rapidly; "squirrels are darters" peeper - an animal that makes short high-pitched sounds homeotherm, homoiotherm, homotherm - an animal that has a body temperature that is relatively constant and independent of the environmental temperature ectotherm, poikilotherm - an animal whose body temperature varies with the temperature of its surroundings; any animal except birds and mammals range animal - any animal that lives and grazes in the grassy open land of western North America (especially horses, cattle, sheep) varment, varmint - any usually predatory wild animal considered undesirable; e.g., coyote scavenger - any animal that feeds on refuse and other decaying organic matter work animal - an animal trained for and used for heavy labor domestic animal, domesticated animal - any of various animals that have been tamed and made fit for a human environment feeder - an animal that feeds on a particular source of food; "a bark feeder"; "a mud feeder" migrator - an animal (especially birds and fish) that travels between different habitats at particular times of the year molter, moulter - an animal (especially birds and arthropods and reptiles) that periodically shed their outer layer (feathers or cuticle or skin or hair) pet - a domesticated animal kept for companionship or amusement stayer - a person or other animal having powers of endurance or perseverance; "the horse that won the race is a good stayer" stunt - a creature (especially a whale) that has been prevented from attaining full growth marine animal, marine creature, sea animal, sea creature - any of numerous animals inhabiting the sea including e.g. fishes and molluscs and many mammals female - an animal that produces gametes (ova) that can be fertilized by male gametes (spermatozoa) male - an animal that produces gametes (spermatozoa) that can fertilize female gametes (ova) adult - any mature animal young, offspring - any immature animal pureblood, purebred, thoroughbred - a pedigreed animal of unmixed lineage; used especially of horses giant - any creature of exceptional size survivor - an animal that survives in spite of adversity; "only the fittest animals were survivors of the cold winters" mutant - an animal that has undergone mutation herbivore - any animal that feeds chiefly on grass and other plants; "horses are herbivores"; "the sauropod dinosaurs were apparently herbivores" insectivore - any organism that feeds mainly on insects acrodont - an animal having teeth consolidated with the summit of the alveolar ridge without sockets pleurodont - an animal having teeth fused with the inner surface of the alveolar ridge without sockets microorganism, micro-organism - any organism of microscopic size actinomycete - any bacteria (some of which are pathogenic for humans and animals) belonging to the order Actinomycetales zooplankton - animal constituent of plankton; mainly small crustaceans and fish larvae conceptus, fertilized egg, embryo - an animal organism in the early stages of growth and differentiation that in higher forms merge into fetal stages but in lower forms terminate in commencement of larval life chordate - any animal of the phylum Chordata having a notochord or spinal column invertebrate - any animal lacking a backbone or notochord; the term is not used as a scientific classification metazoan - any animal of the subkingdom Metazoa; all animals except protozoans and sponges omnivore - an animal that feeds on both animal and vegetable substances predatory animal, predator - any animal that lives by preying on other animals prey, quarry - animal hunted or caught for food game - animal hunted for food or sport
	2.	creature - a human being; `wight' is an archaic term wight individual, mortal, person, somebody, someone, soul - a human being; "there was too much for one person to do"
	3.	creature - a person who is controlled by others and is used to perform unpleasant or dishonest tasks for someone else puppet, tool slave - a person who is owned by someone

creature

noun

1. living thing, being, animal, beast, brute, critter (U.S. dialect), quadruped, dumb animal, lower animal Many cultures believe that every living creature possesses a spirit.

2. person, man, woman, individual, character, fellow, soul, human being, mortal, body, wight (archaic) He is one of the most amiable creatures in existence.

3. minion, tool, instrument (informal), puppet, cohort (chiefly U.S.), dependant, retainer, hanger-on, lackey, hireling We are not merely creatures of our employers.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

creature

noun

A member of the human race:

being, body, homo, human, human being, individual, life, man, mortal, party, person, personage, soul.

Translations

شَخْصمَخْلـوقمَخْلُوق

stvořenítvor

skabningvæsen

Geschöpf Kreatur Wesen

πλάσμα δημιούργημα

criatura

olentoolio

créature être

stvor

teremtmény

grey, ræfilstuskaskepna

creatura

生き物

피조물

gyvisžmogelisžmogysta

dzīva būtneradībaradījums

creatuur schepsel wezen

skapning umælende medskapning krek levende vesen

stworzenie

criatura

тварь животное создание существо

bitje

varelse

สิ่งมีชีวิต

yaratıkzavallıcıkvarlık

sinh vật

人人或动物动物生物

creature

[ˈkriːtʃəʳ]

A. N

1. (gen) → criatura f; (= animal) → animal m; (= insect etc) → bicho m

2. (= person) pay no attention to that creature → no hagas caso de esa individua
poor creature! → ¡pobrecito!
wretched creature! → ¡desgraciado!
creature of habit → esclavo/a m/f de la costumbre

3. (pej) (= dependent person) → títere m

B. CPD creature comforts NPL → comodidades fpl (materiales)

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

creature

[ˈkriːtʃə^r] n

(= living thing) → créature f

(= person) → créature fcreature comforts [ˌkriːtʃə^rˈkʌmfə^rts] npl → confort m matériel

creature

→ Geschöpf nt, → (Lebe)wesen nt, → Kreatur f; what a beautiful creature! → welch ein herrliches Geschöpf!; all dumb creatures → die stumme Kreatur; she’s a funny creature → sie ist ein komisches Geschöpf; there wasn’t a creature in sight → nirgends regte sich etwas, kein Lebewesen war zu sehen

(= subordinate person) → Geschöpf nt

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

creature

[ˈkriːtʃəʳ] n (gen) → creatura
the creatures of the deep (liter) → le creature degli abissi
a creature from outer space → un extraterrestre
the poor creature had no home → il poverino era senza casa
a creature of habit → una persona abitudinaria

creature

(ˈkriːtʃə) noun

1. an animal or human being. all God's creatures.

2. a term of contempt or pity. The poor creature could hardly stand.

creature

→ مَخْلُوق tvor skabning Geschöpf πλάσμα criatura olento créature stvor creatura 生き物 피조물 wezen skapning stworzenie criatura животное varelse สิ่งมีชีวิต yaratık sinh vật 动物

References in periodicals archive ?

This sense of my creatureliness is also known as the fear of God.

Invoke his name: The Jesus Prayer invokes a living God who is present in every aspect of creation

Even more specially, this false esteem is a lack of humility, a denial of one's actual creatureliness, and an unnatural claim to being like God" (OH 69/286).

Festivity, Tradition, and Hope: Josef Pieper and the Historical Meaning of Human Praxis

He combines what Guy Davenport calls the "kithless epistemology" with what Susan Sontag calls "creatureliness of life" forming an uncanny metaphysical and captivating representation of the real world, turning everyday things and shared experiences of history into existential accounts that make him a practitioner of a dialectical materialism analogous to Walter Benjamin (Fragopoulos par.

An Existential Crisis: The Significance of the Opening and Concluding Passages of Robert Walser's Jacob Von Gunten

For Santner, creatureliness is "a dimension not so much of biological as of ontological vulnerability, a vulnerability that permeates human being as that being whose essence it is to exist in forms of life that are, in turn, contingent, fragile, susceptible to breakdown" (6).

BEAUTY THAT MUST DIE: STATION ELEVEN, CLIMATE CHANGE FICTION, AND THE LIFE OF FORM

"This thing of darkness I / Acknowledge mine," Prospero concludes, pointing to Caliban and all his creatureliness (5.1.275-76).

"Savage and Deformed": Stigma as Drama in The Tempest

He is not self-conceited and seeks redemption in his prayers and in his very act of confessing his flaws and creatureliness in front of the creator of the universe (Soloveitchik, 2006).

Periodicity and intimations of a Judaic universe in David Mamet's Faustus

Alexandra Hills in "Creatureliness and Posthumanism in Liliana Cavani's The Night Porter and Pier Paolo Pasolini's Salo," argues how the directors' works provide significant hindsight on the philosophical debate surrounding Posthumanism through the notions of "creatureliness" and "abject body," which make ephemeral the borders between man, culture, and animal.

Deborah Amberson and Elena Past (eds.). Thinking Italian Animals. Human and Posthuman in Modern Italian Literature and Films

Randall, Catharine, The Wisdom of Animals: Creatureliness in Early Modern French Spirituality, Notre Dame, IN, University of Notre Dame Press, 2014; paperback; pp.

The Wisdom of Animals: Creatureliness in Early Modern French Spirituality

Like every individual, the self is there in the Mariner, but he is disoriented from it as a believer strays away at moments from the fold of creatureliness. The path is redirected to the centre (Self, God) when further self-accreditation becomes impossible.

The Mariner's Centre of Gravity: The Self

(7.) The phrase "rational creature" is found extensively in Catherine's Dialogue and proves especially valuable in this context for emphasizing dependence, a consequence of "creatureliness." See for instance, "Open the eye of your intellect, and gaze into Me, and you shall see the beauty of My rational creature," and "everything has been created for the service of man, to serve the necessities of rational creatures, and the rational creature has not been made for them, but for Me, in order to serve Me with all his heart, and with all his affection." Catherine of Siena, The Dialogue of the Seraphic Virgin Catherine of Siena, trans.

Dependence on God and Man: Toward a Catholic Constitution of Liberty

In Being-in-Creation: Human Responsibility in an Endangered World, Brian Treanor, Bruce Ellis Benson, and Norman Wirzba present a collection of ten essays, the majority written by professors of philosophy or theology, that focuses on the Christian environmental perspective, stressing our "creatureliness" and intimate relationship with the rest of creation rather than exerting our dominion over the natural world.