In Jewish folklore, a dybbuk is a possessing spirit believed to be the malicious or dislocated soul of a dead person.
The word comes from the Hebrew verb dabaq, meaning “to cling” or “to adhere.” A dybbuk was thought to attach itself to a living person, causing distress or abnormal behavior. Folklore held that the spirit might leave after its purpose was fulfilled or after an exorcism carried out through religious ritual.
Dybbuk stories became especially prominent in Jewish communities of Eastern Europe, particularly in early modern Hasidic storytelling. They reflect concerns about the soul, unresolved wrongdoing, improper burial, and the boundary between the living and the dead. The famous Yiddish play The Dybbuk, written by S. Ansky and first performed in 1920, helped spread the legend internationally.
A dybbuk is not the same as a golem, which is an artificial being made from matter, or Lilith, a separate folkloric figure. Shedim are a broader category of spirits or demons.