haunt

1 of 2

verb

ˈhȯnt 

ˈhänt

haunted; haunting; haunts

transitive verb

1

of a ghost : to visit or inhabit

believes that the house is haunted

Spirits are supposed to haunt the places where their bodies most resorted …

—Charles Dickens

2

a

: to visit often : frequent

spends a lot of time haunting the bookstore

b

: to continually seek the company of

haunting celebrities

impostors that haunt the official in foreign ports

—Van Wyck Brooks

3

a

: to have a disquieting or harmful effect on eventually : trouble

Problems we ignore now will come back to haunt us.

b

: to recur constantly and spontaneously to

The memory haunted her.

c

: to reappear continually in

a sense of tension that haunts his writing

intransitive verb

1

of a ghost : to appear habitually

Not far from Hillside Gate, where she haunted, appeared for a short time a much more remarkable spirit.

—W. B. Yeats

2

: to stay around or persist : linger

a haunting fragrance

haunter noun

hauntingly

ˈhȯn-tiŋ-lē 

ˈhän-

adverb

haunt

2 of 2

noun

ˈhȯnt 

ˈhänt,

 sense 2 is usually  ˈhant

1

: a place habitually frequented

a favorite haunt of college kids

2

chiefly dialectal : ghost

Synonyms of haunt

Verb

• visit
• frequent
• affect

Noun

• hangout
• resort
• refuge
• club
• rendezvous
• haven

Examples of haunt in a Sentence

Verb

Some people believe that the ghost of an old sea captain haunts the beach.

If you ignore the problem, it will come back to haunt you.

Their failure to plan ahead is now coming back to haunt them.

The tune haunted me all day.

Noun

The restaurant became one of her favorite haunts.

one of their favorite after-school haunts is Joe's Pizza

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

Loosely based on Peterson’s Sundance short film MuM, Puppet follows Ash, a young woman haunted by the psychological and emotional grip of her abusive husband. —Matt Grobar, Deadline, 4 Nov. 2025

Thia was sent to this dread planet by the Weyland-Yutani corporation, the famously evil entity that haunts most of the Alien movies. —Richard Lawson, HollywoodReporter, 4 Nov. 2025

Noun

The nightlife scene has gotten a spooky makeover, with Halloween pop-up bars transforming familiar haunts into eerie, immersive experiences. —Laura L. Davis, Nashville Tennessean, 31 Oct. 2025

For a humorous and fun take on Halloween haunts, this is the perfect movie for all ages. —Keith Langston, PEOPLE, 30 Oct. 2025

Word History

Etymology

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"

First Known Use

Verb

14th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 2a

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing haunt

• come back to haunt
• come back to haunt us

Rhymes for haunt

• daunt
• flaunt
• font
• gaunt
• jaunt
• pont
• taunt
• vaunt
• want
• avant
• croissant
• detente

Kids Definition

haunt

1 of 2 verb

ˈhȯnt 

ˈhänt

1

: to visit often : frequent

they haunted the antique shops

2

a

: to have a disturbing or harmful effect on

problems we ignore now will come back to haunt us

b

: to come back to the mind of again and again

the song haunted me all day

3

: to visit or live in as a ghost

spirits haunted the house

haunter noun

hauntingly

-iŋ-lē 

adverb

haunt

2 of 2 noun

ˈhȯnt 

ˈhänt

: a place repeatedly visited