doppelgänger

noun

dop·​pel·​gäng·​er ˈdä-pəl-ˌgaŋ-ər 

-ˌgeŋ-,

ˌdä-pəl-ˈgaŋ-,

-ˈgeŋ-

variants or doppelganger

1

a

: double sense 2a

said she had seen his doppelgänger

b

: alter ego sense 1b

c

: a person who has the same name as another

2

: a ghostly counterpart (see counterpart sense 3a) of a living person

Did you know?

According to German folklore, all living creatures have an identical, but invisible, spirit double. These second selves are distinct from ghosts, which appear only after death, and are sometimes described as the spiritual opposite or negative of their living counterparts. English speakers borrowed both the concept of the doppelgänger and the German word for it (from doppel-, meaning “double,” and -gänger, meaning “goer”) in the mid-1800s, but today the English word typically has a more quotidian use, referring simply to a living person who closely resembles another living person.

Synonyms

• twin
• image
• picture
• portrait
• counterpart

Examples of doppelgänger in a Sentence

In the story, the character is haunted by a doppelgänger.

at the mall today I saw someone who could be your doppelgänger

Recent Examples on the Web

No, the worst Christopher Reeve Superman film is not the embarrassing Cannon Films installment but rather the one featuring a world-class comedian, a woman turning into a computer, and a terrific junkyard battle between Clark Kent and his belligerent jerk doppelganger. —Rory Doherty, Vulture, 11 July 2025

Obsessed with one of Joy’s pals essentially being an Emily Mortimer doppelganger. —Emma Specter, Vogue, 20 June 2025

And then what are the bizarro, doppelganger character defects that accompany those characteristics? —Outside Online, 28 May 2025

And then there are the cats—dozens of them, prowling or stoic doppelgangers of the real-life felines who roamed Abercrombie’s Hyde Park Victorian. —Jeremy Lybarger, ARTnews.com, 26 Mar. 2025

In the show, Sarah Manning (Maslany) witnesses the death of doppelganger Beth Childs (also Maslany), and realises they — and all the others — were created via the sinister experiments of Project Leda. 12. —Richard Edwards, Space.com, 26 Mar. 2025

According to Pike and Diaz, around 10 million people across platforms weighed in, most of whom agreed that Christine was essentially Scherzinger's doppelgänger. —Tommy Tuberville, Newsweek, 7 Mar. 2025

This is fun sci-fi TV, doing twisty multiverse, evil-doppelgänger stuff really well. —New Atlas, 6 Mar. 2025

In desperation, Elisabeth conceives, and is viciously destroyed by, her own younger, more bankable doppelgänger. —Justin Chang, The New Yorker, 3 Mar. 2025

Word History

Etymology

German Doppelgänger, from doppel- double + -gänger goer

First Known Use

1851, in the meaning defined at sense 2

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