haunt

1 of 2

verb

ˈhȯnt 

ˈhänt

haunted; haunting; haunts

transitive verb

1

a

: to visit often : frequent

spends a lot of time haunting bookstores

b

: to continually seek the company of

haunting celebrities

impostors that haunt the official in foreign ports

—Van Wyck Brooks

2

a

: to have a disquieting or harmful effect on : trouble

problems we ignore now will come back to haunt us

b

: to recur constantly and spontaneously to

the tune haunted her

c

: to reappear continually in

a sense of tension that haunts his writing

3

: to visit or inhabit as a ghost

believed that the house was haunted

Spirits are supposed to haunt the places where their bodies most resorted …

—Charles Dickens

intransitive verb

1

: to stay around or persist : linger

a haunting fragrance

2

: to appear habitually as a ghost

Not far from Hillside Gate, where she haunted, appeared for a short time a much more remarkable spirit.

—W. B. Yeats

haunter noun

hauntingly

ˈhȯn-tiŋ-lē 

ˈhän-

adverb

haunt

2 of 2

noun

ˈhȯnt 

ˈhänt,

 sense 2 is usually  ˈhant

1

: a place habitually frequented

a favorite haunt of college kids

2

chiefly dialectal : ghost

Synonyms

Verb

• affect
• frequent
• habituate
• hang (at)
• resort (to)
• visit

Noun

• hangout
• purlieu
• rendezvous
• resort
• stamping ground
• stomping ground

Examples of haunt in a Sentence

Verb

Some people believe that the ghost of an old sea captain haunts the beach.

If you ignore the problem, it will come back to haunt you.

Their failure to plan ahead is now coming back to haunt them.

The tune haunted me all day.

Noun

The restaurant became one of her favorite haunts.

one of their favorite after-school haunts is Joe's Pizza

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

This year, one of the most notable films up for recognition is Nickel Boys, a haunting adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. —Shelby Stewart, Essence, 10 Dec. 2024

Rooms are tastefully decorated with antique writing desks, tall clocks, fireplaces, and a slew of haunting period paintings. —Weike Wang, The New Yorker, 9 Dec. 2024

Noun

This two-house haunt is collecting non-perishable items for the Utah Food Bank, so bring a can in appreciation. —Erin Alberty, Axios, 29 Oct. 2024

The Hill Has Eyes includes four haunts that span 45 acres. —Hannah Kirby, Journal Sentinel, 18 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Verb

Middle English haunten, hanten "to frequent, frequent the company of, dwell in, engage in, practice (a vice or virtue), perform," borrowed from Anglo-French hanter, haunter (also continental Old French), of uncertain origin

Note: The origin of the French word has been much argued over in the past century and a half. Given the initial h aspiré (meaning the initial h was pronounced into early modern French and still blocks elision of preceding vowels), the word has usually been given a Germanic source. Perhaps most frequently it has been traced to the Old Norse verb reflected in Old Icelandic heimta "to draw, pull, call on, claim, crave, get back, recover," despite semantic and phonetic objections. Also proffered has been a presumed Old Low Franconian *haimiþōn "to shelter, accommodate." Both etyma are derivatives of Germanic *haima- "dwelling" (see home entry 1). The possibility of a spoken Latin source has been revived in Dictionnaire étymologique de l'ancien français (on line), which suggests *ambitāre, from Latin ambitus "circuit" (see ambit)—see full discussion and bibliography there.

Noun

Middle English haunt, hant "frequent visiting, resort, a place frequented, habitual practice of something, usage," borrowed from Anglo-French hant, haunt, derivative of hanter "to frequent, haunt entry 1"

First Known Use

Verb

14th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1a

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing haunt

• come back to haunt

Kids Definition

haunt

1 of 2 verb

ˈhȯnt 

ˈhänt

1

: to visit often : frequent

they haunted the antique shops

2

a

: to have a disturbing or harmful effect on

problems we ignore now will come back to haunt us

b

: to come back to the mind of again and again

the song haunted me all day

3

: to visit or live in as a ghost

spirits haunted the house

haunter noun

hauntingly

-iŋ-lē 

adverb

haunt

2 of 2 noun

ˈhȯnt 

ˈhänt

: a place repeatedly visited