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
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
Despite debuting nearly 40 years after the original, the poltergeist scared up a strong $452 million at the global box office.
—Angelique Jackson, Variety, 1 Aug. 2025
On a more intimate scale, Gemma and Cady’s new Bay Area rental is a smart house where everything is a potential poltergeist, from the ice dispenser to the vacuum.
—Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 26 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for 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
Despite debuting nearly 40 years after the original, the poltergeist scared up a strong $452 million at the global box office.
—Angelique Jackson, Variety, 1 Aug. 2025
On a more intimate scale, Gemma and Cady’s new Bay Area rental is a smart house where everything is a potential poltergeist, from the ice dispenser to the vacuum.
—Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 26 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for poltergeist
Recent Examples of Synonyms for poltergeist
Noun
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Elytra Dark will serve as a transfer vehicle to bring the Blue ghost lander to the moon.—
Richard Tribou,
The Orlando Sentinel,
20 Feb. 2026
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It was originally supposed to be a story with more ghosts and such, but the real-world system the film presents was horror enough.—
Blake Simons,
Variety,
20 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Though the governor left little behind to solve the ultimate mystery — where the staircase led —a rare apparition surfaced from Roman Germany, preserved for 2,000 years due to the Romans’ advanced building techniques.—
Maria Mocerino,
Interesting Engineering,
14 Feb. 2026
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And just as the questions are sinking into our souls, some mist starts to rise up from the floorboards of Tower 12 and turn itself into something like a human form, a specter, an apparition, a boy made real.—
Brian Moylan,
Vulture,
11 Feb. 2026
Noun
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The most widespread Games in history created distinct pockets of Olympic spirit separated by hours on trains and miles of winding mountain roads.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
23 Feb. 2026
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And in that spirit, three strong disagreements with these arguments.—
Ben Smith,
semafor.com,
23 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Poltergeist.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/poltergeist. Accessed 25 Feb. 2026.
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