doppelgänger
Americannoun
-
doppelgängers
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of doppelgänger
First recorded in 1850–55; from German: literally, “double-walker,” from doppel double ( def. ) + Gänger “walker” (from Gang “motion, way” + -er -er 1 ( def. ); cf. gang 1 ( def. ))
Explanation
Someone who looks spookily like you, but isn't a twin, is a doppelganger. Originally, this was a type of ghost. The word doppelganger is German and literally means double walker — as in a ghost or shadow of yourself. An easy way to remember it is that doppelganger sounds like double, as in "That movie star is my double. We look so much alike." These days, most people don't refer to the ghost meaning when talking about doppelgangers: they just mean someone who looks a lot like you or could be your twin. Still, that is pretty spooky.
Vocabulary lists containing doppelganger
The Fault in Our Stars
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This Week in Pop Culture : January 5 - 11, 2019
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Foreign Words and Phrases Commonly Used in English, List 3
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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:
The Quaker chaplain usually posts about religion on social media, but said people would comment on her posts describing her as the Labour leader's doppelgänger.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
As an adult I acquired a different doppelgänger, not a famous actor but a fellow opinion journalist whom I happened to befriend after moving to New York in the mid-1990s.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 23, 2025
“I have joked — and it’s not a bad comp — that we’re reaching for Merchant/Ivory doing Hammer Horror,” says Eggers, who staged a version of the Germanic “Dracula” doppelgänger in high school.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 3, 2024
On that cold rainy day, Zendaya doppelgänger Zainab Bansfield took home the coveted $40 prize, hair care products and bragging rights.
From Salon ● Nov. 25, 2024
Willem is the Dutch version of William, just like his American movie star doppelgänger.
From "Girl in the Blue Coat" by Monica Hesse
A pair of women, seeming doppelgängers of Ari’s roommate and a second guest, suddenly appear; as inexplicably, the host vanishes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026
By understanding the tactics employed by these digital doppelgängers and taking proactive steps to protect yourself, you can significantly reduce your risk of becoming another statistic.
From Salon ● Oct. 13, 2024
Heather Tal Murphy runs down four concrete ways A.I. doppelgängers of real people are already being used on screen.
From Slate ● Jun. 5, 2023
Levy remembered the year she spent there researching doppelgängers and embedded in a community of other artists as one of “reflection and thinking, and great libraries and excellent food.”
From New York Times ● Jun. 2, 2023
The same players, or their doppelgängers; the same pictured nymphs smiling on the ornate walls.
From The Princess Passes by A. M. (Alice Muriel) Williamson
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.
