Word.ws English Dictionary

moloch

/ˈmɒlɒk//ˈməʊlɒk/

moloch noun: any of species Moloch horridus of Australian lizards, sole species of the genus Moloch.

Noun

moloch (plural molochs)

  1. Any of species Moloch horridus of Australian lizards, sole species of the genus Moloch.
    Synonyms:
    thorny dragon, thorny devil, mountain devil, thorny lizard

Proper noun capitalized: Moloch

Moloch

  1. An ancient Ammonite deity worshiped by the Canaanites, Phoenician and related cultures in North Africa and the Levant, often depicted with the head of a bull.
  2. (figuratively) A person or thing demanding or requiring a very costly sacrifice.
    • [W]e can't without wonder remember that horrid Invention projected in this place, but thanks be to God diſappointed, wherein there was not Reverence to the ſacred Bones of Princes, but all were at one blaſt to be offer'd up to Moloch.1706, [John Rushworth], “The Speaker’s Speech to the King [marginal note]”, in Historical Collections from the Year 1638. to the Year 1641. Abridg’d and Improv’d. … With a Particular and More...
    • They [bankers] would do what has been done by the Bank of France—buy bullion at a premium, on the approach of danger, and keep peril at a safe and respectable distance. Any expenditure that might be incurred for that purpose would be small indeed when contrasted with the immense loss and suffering...1857 November, “The Present Panic”, in Tait's Edinburgh Magazine, volume XXIV, Edinburgh: William Tait, →OCLC, page 644

Synonyms of moloch

Forms of moloch

pluralmolochs

Origin of moloch

From Hebrew מולך (molokh, “Ammonite god, worshipped by Canaanites and Phoenicians, who demanded child-sacrifice. Mentioned in Leviticus and Deuteronomy”).

From the Proto-Semitic *malk- (“king”). The figurative sense derives from the Old Testament, in which it is alleged that the cult of Moloch involved the sacrifice of human children.

Words formed from moloch

Questions about moloch

What does moloch mean?
Moloch means any of species Moloch horridus of Australian lizards, sole species of the genus Moloch.
What part of speech is moloch?
Moloch can be a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce moloch?
Moloch is pronounced /ˈmɒlɒk/.
What is the plural of moloch?
The plural of moloch is molochs.

Words near moloch in the dictionary

  1. Molniya orbit
  2. Molniya orbits
  3. Molniyas
  4. molnupiravir
  5. Moloc
  6. moloch
  7. Molochansk
  8. Molochian
  9. Molochise
  10. Molochised
  11. Molochises

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: moloch (page history and authors); Moloch (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-Moloch.wav.

Cite this entry: “moloch.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/moloch. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.