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
Things take a turn when the family discovers that their charming rental is already occupied—by a centuries old poltergeist.
—
Annabelle Canela, Parents, 26 Mar. 2025
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
That zone also unleashes Hayden Gray as a passing lane poltergeist; Gray leads the entire country in steal rate.
—Jim Root, The Athletic, 19 Feb. 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
See All Example Sentences for poltergeist
Annabelle Canela, Parents, 26 Mar. 2025
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
That zone also unleashes Hayden Gray as a passing lane poltergeist; Gray leads the entire country in steal rate.
—Jim Root, The Athletic, 19 Feb. 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
See All Example Sentences for poltergeist
Recent Examples of Synonyms for poltergeist
Noun
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The bright orange bucket, sporting Home Depot's logo, features jack-o'-lanterns, bats, ghosts, spiders and spiderwebs.—
Greta Cross,
USA Today,
12 Sep. 2025
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The ghosts of the Federal Theatre still haunt the 102-year-old movie house, and David Lindoerfer has seen them.—
John Wenzel,
Denver Post,
12 Sep. 2025
Noun
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The Zoo will be joined by a second new maze based on the Bloody Mary apparition who can be summoned by anyone who turns out the lights and says her name into a mirror three times.—
Brady MacDonald,
Oc Register,
12 Sep. 2025
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Ahead of the 500-year anniversary of the Virgin Mary’s apparition in Tepeyac, Mexico, the sculpture is embarking on a worldwide tour, with visits scheduled to Colombia, Puerto Rico and the Philippines, among other places.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
29 Aug. 2025
Noun
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In that spirit, the exhibition resists the expectation that women and non-binary artists must define themselves in contrast to a male norm.—
Caterina De Biasio,
Vogue,
11 Sep. 2025
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The spirit of his work, which earned him a humanism in medicine scholarship in medical school, is what prompted him to call Sutton-Schulman.—
Duaa Eldeib,
ProPublica,
10 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Future Antarctic and radio-neutrino arrays will decide if ANITA glimpsed a phantom or a frontier.—
Kaif Shaikh,
Interesting Engineering,
11 Sep. 2025
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Because contemporary phantoms of Richard Mille, Patek Philippe, and Rolex are expertly constructed to entice even the most discerning eye, provenance is crucial.—
Connie Etemadi,
USA Today,
11 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Poltergeist.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/poltergeist. Accessed 16 Sep. 2025.
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