doppelgänger

American  

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

Or Doppelgänger

noun

doppelgängers plural

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

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doppelgänger British  

/ ˈdɒpəlˌɡɛŋə, ˈdɔpəlˌɡɛŋər /

noun

1. legend a ghostly duplicate of a living person

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• doppelgängers
  plural

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

For example, Doppelganger, a $570,000 purchase, was moved to Brittney Russell after finishing fourth in the Los Alamitos Derby.

From Los Angeles Times • May 16, 2024

"Great to see my Doppelganger again," Chancellor Scholz wrote on X, formerly Twitter, in a re-post of the image.

From BBC • Feb. 9, 2024

That points toward the real challenge Klein confronts in "Doppelganger," which is not about her and Naomi Wolf but something much bigger.

From Salon • Sep. 14, 2023

After being repeatedly mistaken for each other, Byer and Zamata began performing across New York City with another Black female comedian, Keisha Zollar, as an improv group called Doppelganger.

From Washington Post • Aug. 21, 2022

"I feel as if I had seen my Doppelganger," said Searle.

From A Passionate Pilgrim by James, Henry