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
There are newspaper clippings, from the 1950s through to the 2000s, concerning ghost sightings, or reports of poltergeists in market towns or children who appear to possess uncanny extrasensory powers.
—
Literary Hub, 20 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
Literary Hub, 20 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 ghosts lingering in the story.—
Elsa Keslassy,
Variety,
13 Mar. 2026
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Even Kathy Hilton is like a ghost of her former self, with Jen Tilly taking the crown of doddering kook away from her.—
Brian Moylan,
Vulture,
13 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Mercury puts on its best evening apparition of 2025 for Northern Hemisphere observers during these two weeks.—
Joe Rao,
Space.com,
2 Mar. 2026
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As the 14-year-old child of a poor family in 1858, Saint Bernadette experienced numerous apparitions of a young woman in a cave or grotto, seemingly the Virgin Mary, asking for a chapel to be built on the site.—
Chris Jones,
Chicago Tribune,
21 Feb. 2026
Noun
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This all-day, rain-or-shine celebration will be overflowing with live entertainment, festive food, family fun and plenty of Irish spirit, including special offerings from Guinness and Jameson, who will be onsite with festive surprises.—
Laura Ness,
Mercury News,
8 Mar. 2026
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Older and younger kids can play together, fostering a spirit of collaboration.—
Stephanie Ganz,
Parents,
8 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Poltergeist.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/poltergeist. Accessed 16 Mar. 2026.
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