ghoul
Americannoun
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an evil demon, originally of Muslim legend, supposed to feed on human beings, and especially to rob graves, prey on corpses, etc.
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a grave robber.
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a person who revels in what is revolting.
noun
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a malevolent spirit or ghost
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a person interested in morbid or disgusting things
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a person who robs graves
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(in Muslim legend) an evil demon thought to eat human bodies, either stolen corpses or children
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of ghoul
First recorded in 1780–90, ghoul is from the Arabic word ghūl
Explanation
A ghoul is an evil demon, ghost, or fiend. On Halloween, the kids dressed as fairies and pumpkins look cute. The kids dressed as ghouls, with fake blood dripping down their faces and hair matted in knots? Not so cute. The word ghoul originates in the Arabic word “ghul,” which refers to an evil spirit that digs up graves and eats the dead. Some confuse ghoul with the word “gremlin,” but the two are not interchangeable. A gremlin does not gorge on the flesh of the dead; it is more a mischievous imp and troublemaker, famous for causing mechanical difficulties in World War II aircraft.
Vocabulary lists containing ghoul
The Grim Reader: Wicked Words of Grave Importance for Halloween
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English Words Derived from Arabic
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Nine Stories
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Turns out he’s a modern-day Samson: his lack of hair was the reason he was such a soulless ghoul.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 31, 2025
Beetlejuice's sequel sees Keaton reprise his role as the titular chaos-causing ghoul.
From BBC ● Aug. 28, 2024
Taking a pause to gather herself from his blunt answer, the comedian tried again to one-up the mendacious ghoul.
From Salon ● Jan. 2, 2024
Here were real women operating a coven, not just the minions of a villainous asthmatic ghoul.
From New York Times ● Sep. 21, 2022
In the fiery light of the Titan’s armor, her Death Mist disguise made her look like a burning ghoul.
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
Others were more sympathetic but still unsettled by what he was doing not only to himself but also to his teenage children, who will have to deal with the ugly reactions of social-media ghouls.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 31, 2026
Paula Dewar and her family have, for years, covered their home and outside street with hordes of ghouls, ghosts and goblins.
From BBC ● Oct. 31, 2025
The streets are full of ghouls, masked horrors, and terrifying make-up—also it will be Halloween soon.
From Slate ● Oct. 24, 2025
We are in our laboratories playing God with machine networks and not really having updated scientific language to describe the old ghouls and goblins.
From Salon ● Apr. 21, 2024
The light which dashed on the ceiling steadied, and imitated rabbits rather than lions, and donkeys instead of ghouls.
From "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
