doppelgänger

noun

dop·​pel·​gäng·​er ˈdä-pəl-ˌgaŋ-ər 

-ˌgeŋ-,

ˌdä-pəl-ˈgaŋ-,

-ˈgeŋ-

variants or doppelganger

1

a

: double sense 2a

said she had seen his doppelgänger

b

: alter ego sense 1b

c

: a person who has the same name as another

2

: a ghostly counterpart (see counterpart sense 3a) of a living person

Did you know?

According to German folklore, all living creatures have a spirit double who is invisible but identical to the living individual. These second selves are perceived as being distinct from ghosts (which appear only after death), and sometimes they are described as the spiritual opposite or negative of their human counterparts. German writers coined the word Doppelgänger (from doppel-, meaning "double," and -gänger, meaning "goer") to refer to such specters.

Synonyms

• alter ego
• carbon
• carbon copy
• clone
• counterpart
• double
• duplicate
• duplication
• facsimile
• fetch
• image
• likeness
• look-alike
• match
• mirror image
• picture
• replica
• ringer
• spit
• spitting image
• twin

Examples of doppelgänger in a Sentence

In the story, the character is haunted by a doppelgänger.

at the mall today I saw someone who could be your doppelgänger

Recent Examples on the Web

The best known of the cycle is Charles Chaplin’s The Great Dictator (1940), where the comedian plays both a Hitler doppelganger (same body type, same moustache) and a Jewish barber. —Thomas Doherty, The Hollywood Reporter, 9 Aug. 2024

Your doppelganger cornering you in a lonely lighthouse. —Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, The Week Us, theweek, 9 Aug. 2024

Starlight makes her peace (begrudgingly) with the fact that Hughie’s spent the last week screwing her doppelganger. —Alex Raiman, EW.com, 18 July 2024

In Showtime’s 2017 Twin Peaks revival, MacLachlan reprised his role as FBI Agent Dale Cooper, as well as his dark doppelganger and Dougie, who was a tulpa created by the doppelganger to avoid returning to the Black Lodge. —Glenn Garner, Deadline, 13 July 2024

All is not quiet on the marital front, as the wife asks for a divorce and the couple descends into a destructive cycle that not only includes infidelity and neglect, but spins into murder, a tentacled alien creature and doppelgangers. —Borys Kit, The Hollywood Reporter, 9 July 2024

Despite its slipper-like design, the shoe’s ribbed, tortoiseshell outsole sets it apart from inside-only doppelgangers. —Erin Bunch, SELF, 26 June 2024

All is not quiet on the marital front as the wife asks for a divorce and the couple next descends into a destructive cycle that not only includes infidelity and neglect but spins into murder, a tentacled alien creature and doppelgangers. —Borys Kit, The Hollywood Reporter, 12 June 2024

Over the course of three seasons so far, the heroes of The Umbrella Academy have fought psychic dance battles, traveled through time to the ‘60s and back, and even faced down their own doppelganger family. —Christian Holub, EW.com, 16 May 2024

Word History

Etymology

German Doppelgänger, from doppel- double + -gänger goer

First Known Use

1851, in the meaning defined at sense 2

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