doppelgänger

American  

[dop-uhl-gang-er, daw-puhl-geng-er] / ˈdɒp əlˌgæŋ ər, ˈdɔ pəlˌgɛŋ ər /

Or Doppelgänger

noun

1. a ghostly double or counterpart of a living person.

---

doppelgänger British  

/ ˈdɒpəlˌɡɛŋə, ˈdɔpəlˌɡɛŋər /

noun

1. legend a ghostly duplicate of a living person

---

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.

Example Sentences

In June Le Monde wrote a series of articles about Doppelgänger, which it said used computer bots to deluge social media with fake news postings.

From BBC • Nov. 8, 2023

Your previous novel "Disappear Doppelgänger Disappear" gets a fun callback because it's the title of a chapter in "The Sense of Wonder."

From Salon • Mar. 18, 2023

A highlight of Carnegie’s spring months in recent seasons has been the Danish String Quartet’s Doppelgänger project, which juxtaposes Schubert quartets with premieres.

From New York Times • Feb. 28, 2023

Doppelgänger has already moved to Yakteen’s barn and the others will move in the next few days.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 24, 2022

She was still, however, the child to him; the child whom he used to frighten with his gruesome ghost-stories, especially of his "Doppelgänger," a name, Clara afterwards took to herself.

From The Love Affairs of Great Musicians, Volume 2 by Hughes, Rupert