Halloween
Americannoun
noun
Usage
What is Halloween? Halloween is a holiday on October 31 that’s essentially a celebration of spooky and scary stuff, like ghosts, witches, monsters, and haunted houses. It’s traditionally celebrated by dressing in costumes, decorating with things like jack-o’-lanterns (carved pumpkins) and fake spiderwebs, and trick or treating—going door to door to collect candy or other treats from people who are giving it out. The trick part of trick or treat is a reference to the pranks that kids sometimes play on Halloween. Halloween is especially celebrated by children, but teens and adults commonly celebrate it, too, such as by having parties (often costume parties), watching scary movies, giving out candy to kids, eating some of that candy, and then eating some of the candy that kids bring home. Halloween is a secular (nonreligious) holiday, but its name has roots in the Christian holiday Allhallows, better known as All Saints’ Day. Another name for Halloween is Allhallows Eve (the night before Allhallows). Halloween is commonly used as a modifier in phrases like Halloween costume, Halloween party, Halloween candy, and Halloween night. Example: Don’t give me this trunk or treat stuff—I want a classic Halloween, with trick or treating and haunted houses and my neighbor disguising himself as a stuffed scarecrow so he can pop up and scare kids when they try to take more than one piece of candy from the bowl.
Etymology
Origin of Halloween
First recorded in 1550–60; (All)hallow(s) + e(v)en 2
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.
A ghost stuck forever in the Halloween costume she wore — a ketchup bottle — on the night she died.
From Los Angeles Times • May 14, 2026
The Jackson 5 had their own Saturday morning cartoon and branded products; the title track of “Thriller” will always pop up on or around Halloween.
From Salon • May 14, 2026
When Kathrin Birner was growing up near Vilseck in the 1990s, locals were welcome to wander into the U.S. base to celebrate July 4 or Halloween, she said.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 13, 2026
The supermodel took her penchant for extravagant Halloween costumes to the Met Gala, where she dressed as one of the many marble statues gracing the museum's halls.
From BBC • May 4, 2026
“You’re supposed to be a protester. I know it’s just for Halloween, but can’t you even take a second to think about how important protest is? How it’s not about looking cute?”
From "A Good Kind of Trouble" by Lisa Moore Ramée
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.
