as in demons
an evil spirit
in Arabic folklore, ghouls could change their shapes but had one unchanging feature: donkey's hooves for feet
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Recent Examples of ghouls
This also marks the first time players can become ghouls themselves in the mainline story.
—
Destiny Jackson, Deadline, 26 Feb. 2026
Now working as a stocker, Ash accidentally unleashes undead ghouls after reading from the Necronomicon, forcing him to take up his chainsaw yet again to save humanity from the Deadites.
—Kevin Jacobsen, Entertainment Weekly, 25 Feb. 2026
Here was music that pushed the genre back to the realm of ghosts and ghouls, the ideal soundtrack for doing battle with Dracula on the spiral staircase of his manor.
—Sam Goldner, Pitchfork, 17 Feb. 2026
Even a half-century later, the undead ghouls that descend upon survivors in a Pennsylvania farm house are timeless and the gut-punch ending couldn't be more timely.
—Brian Truitt, USA Today, 13 Feb. 2026
With Adam Roberts announcing the tempos on the baby grand piano, the ghouls in Tevye’s nightmare emerge from around the fourposter.
—Michael Barnes, Austin American Statesman, 4 Feb. 2026
In his masterful first novel, Lincoln in the Bardo, ghouls and spirits keep chattering away, as if at a corner barbershop, while Abraham Lincoln mourns his dead 11-year-old son, Willie.
—Pico Iyer, Air Mail, 24 Jan. 2026
Its lead character is Harry Dresden, a professional wizard operating out of the city of Chicago in a world where ghouls, ghosts, werewolves and vampires exist in the shadows of modern society.
—Erik Pedersen, Oc Register, 21 Jan. 2026
No disrespect to Purnell, who perfectly calibrated Lucy’s intrinsic hopefulness in the first season and slowly begins to curdle it this go-round as Lucy spends more time among ghouls, raiders, cannibals, and various other feuding factions.
—Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 16 Dec. 2025
Destiny Jackson, Deadline, 26 Feb. 2026
Now working as a stocker, Ash accidentally unleashes undead ghouls after reading from the Necronomicon, forcing him to take up his chainsaw yet again to save humanity from the Deadites.
—Kevin Jacobsen, Entertainment Weekly, 25 Feb. 2026
Here was music that pushed the genre back to the realm of ghosts and ghouls, the ideal soundtrack for doing battle with Dracula on the spiral staircase of his manor.
—Sam Goldner, Pitchfork, 17 Feb. 2026
Even a half-century later, the undead ghouls that descend upon survivors in a Pennsylvania farm house are timeless and the gut-punch ending couldn't be more timely.
—Brian Truitt, USA Today, 13 Feb. 2026
With Adam Roberts announcing the tempos on the baby grand piano, the ghouls in Tevye’s nightmare emerge from around the fourposter.
—Michael Barnes, Austin American Statesman, 4 Feb. 2026
In his masterful first novel, Lincoln in the Bardo, ghouls and spirits keep chattering away, as if at a corner barbershop, while Abraham Lincoln mourns his dead 11-year-old son, Willie.
—Pico Iyer, Air Mail, 24 Jan. 2026
Its lead character is Harry Dresden, a professional wizard operating out of the city of Chicago in a world where ghouls, ghosts, werewolves and vampires exist in the shadows of modern society.
—Erik Pedersen, Oc Register, 21 Jan. 2026
No disrespect to Purnell, who perfectly calibrated Lucy’s intrinsic hopefulness in the first season and slowly begins to curdle it this go-round as Lucy spends more time among ghouls, raiders, cannibals, and various other feuding factions.
—Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 16 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ghouls
Noun
-
The hottest mess in this brood, at least from outward appearances, is Josh (Thomas Sadoski), a firefighter battling demons, pills and booze.—
Randy Myers,
Mercury News,
4 Mar. 2026
-
The bought-in blue demons knew early on in the second year under Holtmann that a turnaround season was possible.—
Jori Parys,
CBS News,
3 Mar. 2026
Noun
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The Paramount+ series, which follows a group of ghosts stuck in purgatory inside their high school, uses its premise — characters tethered to different decades — as both a narrative engine and a musical one.—
Kennedy French,
Variety,
5 Mar. 2026
-
This may explain something about ghosts.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
5 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Eternally Yours will tell an eternal love story about two vampires, Charles (Ed Weeks) and Liz (Allegra Edwards), who have been married for five hundred years, and their struggles to accept the human who is dating their daughter Emma (Helen J Shen).—
Rosy Cordero,
Deadline,
2 Mar. 2026
-
The movie is set in the Mississippi River Delta during the 1930s and tackles themes of music, race, family, religion and vampires.—
Yi-Jin Yu,
ABC News,
2 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Some Ottomans believed that Alawites were possessed by devils.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
4 Mar. 2026
-
There are sounds and shadows in the forest; the Devil, or devils, may be walking the earth.—
Joshua Rothman,
New Yorker,
23 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Ghouls.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ghouls. Accessed 12 Mar. 2026.
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