haunted

[hawn-tid, hahn-]

adjective

1. inhabited or frequented by ghosts.

   a haunted castle.

2. preoccupied, as with an emotion, memory, or idea; obsessed.

   His haunted imagination gave him no peace.

3. disturbed; distressed; worried.

   Haunted by doubt he again turned to law books on the subject.

haunted

/ ˈhɔːntɪd /

adjective

1. frequented or visited by ghosts

2. (postpositive) obsessed or worried

Other Word Forms

• unhaunted adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of haunted¹

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

Example Sentences

Conversations changed from the whimsical to wondering about the point of living a life haunted by chronic pain.

Read more on Salon

When Mr. DiCesare approached, Lorraine refused to shake his hand, as if he himself were haunted.

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Amina’s sleepwalking—a concept inconceivable to the villagers, who think the town is haunted—gets her in trouble, and is here a manifestation of her “otherness” and innate resistance to the community’s rigidity.

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"I'm haunted thinking about how scared he must have been in that flat," she said.

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At age 12, she said, she was impregnated by a staff member at MacLaren Children’s Center — an assault that has haunted her since the 1980s.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• obsessed