as in ghost
the soul of a dead person thought of especially as appearing to living people
we thought a poltergeist was knocking dishes off the shelves, but it turned out to just be vibrations from passing trains
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Recent Examples of poltergeist
Valak first appears in The Conjuring 2, when the Warrens are in England, investigating the Enfield poltergeist — the case of a young girl allegedly experiencing a supernatural force taking over her body.
—
Julie Tremaine, PEOPLE, 27 Oct. 2025
Ghostwatch is truly one of a kind, a ghost story disguised as a live news broadcast in which reporters chronicle a family supposedly being haunted by a poltergeist.
—Randall Colburn, Entertainment Weekly, 18 Oct. 2025
Set in the late 1970s, sees Ed and Lorraine Warren head to a council house in Enfield, North London, where a single mother and her four children are being plagued by what appears to be a poltergeist.
—Simon Thompson, Forbes.com, 31 Aug. 2025
The Warrens are also famous for their investigation of a haunted house in Amityville, NY, and the 1980s Connecticut poltergeist case based on a Warren case, in which demonic possession was used unsuccessfully as a defense in a murder trial.
—Pamela McLoughlin, Hartford Courant, 5 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for poltergeist
Julie Tremaine, PEOPLE, 27 Oct. 2025
Ghostwatch is truly one of a kind, a ghost story disguised as a live news broadcast in which reporters chronicle a family supposedly being haunted by a poltergeist.
—Randall Colburn, Entertainment Weekly, 18 Oct. 2025
Set in the late 1970s, sees Ed and Lorraine Warren head to a council house in Enfield, North London, where a single mother and her four children are being plagued by what appears to be a poltergeist.
—Simon Thompson, Forbes.com, 31 Aug. 2025
The Warrens are also famous for their investigation of a haunted house in Amityville, NY, and the 1980s Connecticut poltergeist case based on a Warren case, in which demonic possession was used unsuccessfully as a defense in a murder trial.
—Pamela McLoughlin, Hartford Courant, 5 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for poltergeist
Recent Examples of Synonyms for poltergeist
Noun
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There are even whispers of his ghost still haunting the area.—
Olivia Young,
CBS News,
19 June 2026
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Co-stars include Aaron Paul and Bryce Dallas Howard in the story of two fraudulent paranormal investigators who are forced to face real ghosts and the lies underpinning their business.—
Pat Saperstein,
Variety,
19 June 2026
Noun
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Reports of strange sounds, apparitions, and unexplained encounters continue to attract visitors.—
Kaif Shaikh,
Interesting Engineering,
15 June 2026
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Why then, when discussing body image after weight changes, is our culture reaching for the language of vexing apparitions and death?—
Virgie Tovar,
Forbes.com,
14 June 2026
Noun
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Thank you for a plethora of news on June 17 that didn’t crush our spirits.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
21 June 2026
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The appearance represented one of the highest-profile bookings in the festival’s history and fulfilled organizers’ goal of bringing an artist whose work aligned with the spirit of Juneteenth.—
J.M. Banks
June 21,
Kansas City Star,
21 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Poltergeist.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/poltergeist. Accessed 23 Jun. 2026.
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