Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Small mischevious spirit man with poltergeist tendencies.

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word tokoloshe.

Examples

  • They believe witches can create and control zombies, and fear a malicious spirit known as the tokoloshe -- reputed to be sexually insatiable and often taking the form of a hairy dwarf.

    ANC Daily News Briefing 1994

  • Delivering most of his speech in Afrikaans, Mandela told when he was in prison he spoke Afrikaans like a "tokoloshe".

    ANC Daily News Briefing 1996

  • Among the scary monsters that go bump in the night on the farm is the mythical tokoloshe.

    Archive 2009-03-01 Lauri 2009

  • Among the scary monsters that go bump in the night on the farm is the mythical tokoloshe.

    Gem Squash Tokoloshe by Rachel Zadok Lauri 2009

  • Isangoma, I don't think your Proud One has much authority over these tokoloshe.

    The Shadow of the Torturer Wolfe, Gene 1980

  • When man think bad thought or woman do bad thing, there is another tokoloshe.

    The Shadow of the Torturer Wolfe, Gene 1980

  • The ad lists six other key safety concerns for foreign tourists ahead of the World Cup: sunburn, dehydration induced by cheap beer, the tokoloshe, the Parktown Prawn, the end of the world off Cape Point, and the city-dwelling Big Five.

    Mail & Guardian Online 2010

  • It's my own personal tokoloshe come home to haunt me.

    Mail & Guardian Online 2009

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • An evil spirit; a supernatural being that does the work of witches. (From WWFTD)

    June 7, 2008

  • "I am a Botswanan living in rural South Africa. I am planning to marry my third wife and I paid her family lobola of two oxen, 12 sheep and a hi-fi system. She is a virgin. I recently went home for a few weeks to visit my sick uncle and when I returned, my future wife told me she is pregnant, although we have not yet consummated. Her father says she was impregnated by a tokoloshe and that the only option would be for us to get married as soon as possible. I am worried because I do not want to be the father of a tokoloshe child, as I believe they are high maintenance. However, I am obligated to marry now because my future father in law has already sold the cattle and sheep to pay for his new dentures and to pay off some gambling debts. What should I do? I was hoping to make her my favourite wife, as my first wife has lost most of her teeth and is barren. However, the tokoloshe child is going to complicate things. I am a well-educated man and feel I do not deserve this women trouble. Do you think I should run away?"

    - Vlakvark Chabalala, Answers.yahoo.com, 2008.

    July 4, 2012