haunting

[ hawn-ting, hahn- ]

adjective

1. remaining in the consciousness; not quickly forgotten:

   haunting music; haunting memories.

noun

1. the act of a person or thing that haunts; visitation.

haunting

/ ˈhɔːntɪŋ /

adjective

1. (of memories) poignant or persistent
2. poignantly sentimental; enchantingly or eerily evocative

Derived Forms

• ˈhauntingly, adverb

Other Words From

• haunting·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of haunting¹

Middle English word dating back to 1275–1325; haunt, -ing ², -ing ¹

Example Sentences

Set in the hills of coal country, it’s the story of four siblings who cling to fading memories while wrestling with a haunting secret.

From Washington Blade

“All That She Carried” is organized around a rare and haunting object.

From Washington Post

Above hang beautiful, glittering stars The haunting voices of ancestors remind Sayet, and all of us, of the connection between past and present.

From Washington Blade

In pages full of haunting illustrations, Seek You prompts readers to look inwards.

From Time

Cerra has been left, even as Chauvin is sentenced, with a haunting question.

From Time

This sultry ballad about break-ups and make-ups in the City of Angels is haunting stuff.

From The Daily Beast

Those images you took of people saying goodbye to the bodies of their loved ones are particularly haunting.

From The Daily Beast

A study in American military control, a haunting sui generis novel, and a playful new short story collection.

From The Daily Beast

I ask Vlad what his worst memory was about his time in Russia, and his answers are haunting.

From The Daily Beast

There was a feeling of sweetness and a haunting beauty in both his personality and his music.

From The Daily Beast

Amazed, forgetful of their discomfort, the girls listened while the throbbing, haunting melody wailed itself to a close.

From Project Gutenberg

I want you to be for ever free from the haunting fear that this Anthony Riggleton shall ever cross your path.

From Project Gutenberg

It has been haunting me ever since we heard him playing that day, and yet I can't think of the name of it.

From Project Gutenberg

He found her looking paler than her wont, and there was a cloud of sadness on her brow, a haunting sadness in her eyes.

From Project Gutenberg

It is a graceful book, essentially graceful, with its haunting agreeable melancholy, its pleasing savoury of antiquity.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• eerie
• memorable
• nostalgic
• spooky