Van Wyck BrooksCharles DickensW. B. Yeats
Synonyms
Examples of haunt in a Sentence
Jennifer Ouellette and Sean M. Carroll, Ars Technica, 24 Nov. 2023
The question of why Jeff Bezos, a man who can afford not to bother, wants to own the Washington Post haunts the pages of this book.
—Nathan Heller, The New Yorker, 21 Nov. 2023
In ‘Tedious Days and Nights,’ the Tiananmen Square massacre continues to haunt a lost generation of Chinese artists.
—Patrick Frater, Variety, 17 Nov. 2023
For the good of the Negro, for the good of this state, for the good of this country, do your part to rid us of these apprenticeships, to dismiss one of the last gasps of that despicable institution which has haunted this nation for centuries.
—Anna Deavere Smith, The Atlantic, 13 Nov. 2023
Two haunting Civil War photos of men killed in action were, in fact, the same soldier—the photographer, Alexander Gardner, had lugged the decomposing corpse from one spot to another.
—Daniel Immerwahr, The New Yorker, 13 Nov. 2023
As the watching crowd and the veterans waited for the royals and clergy to join them on Whitehall, the military band played a series of traditional tunes including the haunting Nimrod from by Elgar's Variations.
—Simon Perry, Peoplemag, 12 Nov. 2023
There was laughter, honesty, and even a couple surprise performances, including a haunting solo-piano version of a Gucci Mane hit.
—Rolling Stone, 11 Nov. 2023
The chorus attacked its narrative role (and its several haunting stretches of a cappella singing) with crisp, consonant authority.
—Michael Andor Brodeur, Washington Post, 9 Nov. 2023
James McClain, Robb Report, 10 Nov. 2023
This might sound like the kind of place nobody would ever want to be in, but every year millions of people pay to visit haunts just like Dystopia.
—Athena Aktipis, Scientific American, 1 Nov. 2023
Some states weren’t perceived as so scary, with low interest surrounding the destinations’ haunts.
—Sam Burros, Peoplemag, 21 Oct. 2023
Virden’s team believes a barn closely positioned next to a silo was likely a favored haunt of Rader.
—Lauren Del Valle, CNN, 2 Sep. 2023
Snagging a reservation at this ten-table haunt is next to impossible; visitors should attempt to book a table six or more months out to increase their chances.
—Lauren Dana Ellman, Travel + Leisure, 21 Oct. 2023
Guests are admitted by party, which reduces the conga line effect of so many large haunts, and there are even a couple of moments in the maze, wherein scary characters use narrative tricks to make sure there is adequate spacing, so everyone gets scared right and proper.
—Scott Feinblatt, Los Angeles Times, 18 Oct. 2023
But Ward’s daily life does not consist of rubbing elbows with the literati in their New York haunts.
—Imani Perry, New York Times, 13 Oct. 2023
As part of the campaign, Youkilis published several photos of iconic Florentine haunts and traditions—but one Instagram carousel particularly resonated with viewers.
—Annachiara Barretto-Grignoli, Vogue, 28 Sep. 2023
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These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'haunt.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Verb
Middle English haunten, hanten "to frequent, frequent the company of, dwell in, engage in, practice (a vice or virtue), perform," borrowed from Anglo-French hanter, haunter (also continental Old French), of uncertain origin
Note: The origin of the French word has been much argued over in the past century and a half. Given the initial h aspiré (meaning the initial h was pronounced into early modern French and still blocks elision of preceding vowels), the word has usually been given a Germanic source. Perhaps most frequently it has been traced to the Old Norse verb reflected in Old Icelandic heimta "to draw, pull, call on, claim, crave, get back, recover," despite semantic and phonetic objections. Also proffered has been a presumed Old Low Franconian *haimiþōn "to shelter, accommodate." Both etyma are derivatives of Germanic *haima- "dwelling" (see home entry 1). The possibility of a spoken Latin source has been revived in Dictionnaire étymologique de l'ancien français (on line), which suggests *ambitāre, from Latin ambitus "circuit" (see ambit)—see full discussion and bibliography there.
Noun
Middle English haunt, hant "frequent visiting, resort, a place frequented, habitual practice of something, usage," borrowed from Anglo-French hant, haunt, derivative of hanter "to frequent, haunt entry 1"
Verb
14th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1a
Noun
14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Phrases Containing haunt
Articles Related to haunt
Dictionary Entries Near haunt
Cite this Entry
“Haunt.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/haunt. Accessed 3 Dec. 2023.
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Kids Definition
haunt
1 of 2 verb
haunt
2 of 2 noun
More from Merriam-Webster on haunt
Nglish: Translation of haunt for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of haunt for Arabic Speakers
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