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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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of poltergeist
Houses have always been haunted, but, whereas poltergeists of yore troubled the suburban idyll of white America, in these shows the scariest spectre is a disappearing profit margin.
—
Jennifer Wilson, The New Yorker, 10 Mar. 2025
Enraged, the spirit goes upstairs to his room and begins to cause poltergeist activity like breaking shelves, throwing objects and tearing down posters.
—Keith Langston, People.com, 27 Jan. 2025
The vocals are ghastly, like poltergeists speaking from the beyond, trying to convey some hazy message the mortals can’t decipher.
—Aaron Gilbreath, SPIN, 31 Dec. 2024
Does a person accept, say, poltergeists, but not extrasensory perception?
—Paul Smaglik, Discover Magazine, 14 Nov. 2024
See All Example Sentences for poltergeist
Jennifer Wilson, The New Yorker, 10 Mar. 2025
Enraged, the spirit goes upstairs to his room and begins to cause poltergeist activity like breaking shelves, throwing objects and tearing down posters.
—Keith Langston, People.com, 27 Jan. 2025
The vocals are ghastly, like poltergeists speaking from the beyond, trying to convey some hazy message the mortals can’t decipher.
—Aaron Gilbreath, SPIN, 31 Dec. 2024
Does a person accept, say, poltergeists, but not extrasensory perception?
—Paul Smaglik, Discover Magazine, 14 Nov. 2024
See All Example Sentences for poltergeist
Recent Examples of Synonyms for poltergeist
Noun
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Could this woman be the ghost of a student activist who led a sit-in at the university in the 1960s, then mysteriously disappeared?—
Pam Kragen,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
12 Aug. 2025
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Bok-i, the dog ghost, was the only guardian spirit.—
Joan MacDonald,
Forbes.com,
12 Aug. 2025
Noun
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There’s nothing in the world quite like this abbey, located on an island and rising out of the bay like a heavenly apparition.—
Chloe Arrojado,
AFAR Media,
25 July 2025
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Mercury reaches its point of greatest eastern elongation on Friday (July 4), presenting an excellent opportunity to spot the rocky planet during its evening apparition in the post-sunset sky.—
Anthony Wood,
Space.com,
2 July 2025
Noun
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Festivities will finish with a lantern lighting ceremony at around 8 p.m. Six stone lanterns and paper lanterns will be released on the Japanese Garden pond and the Frog Pond so that, according to the tradition, spirits can return to their resting places.—
Kathryn Kovalenko,
Twin Cities,
13 Aug. 2025
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This shared spirit between Magnolia Pearl and brands like Foreign Tongues as well as other artisan-first labels points to a rising current in fashion—a rejection of disposability, trend-chasing, and mass-production-at-all-costs.—
Tanya Benedicto Klich,
Forbes.com,
13 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Gesturing toward cinema’s roots in 19th-century phantom rides and panoramas, FELT finds a dynamic new form for the sensory experience of space and movement.—
Christian Zilko,
IndieWire,
7 Aug. 2025
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While phantoms of female anxiety, emotion, and pain proliferate across each timeline, Alma, Erika, Angelika, and Lenka articulate their own budding coming-of-age achingly, exquisitely.—
Taylor Antrim,
Vogue,
21 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Poltergeist.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/poltergeist. Accessed 20 Aug. 2025.
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