ghoul
- an evil demon, originally of Muslim legend, supposed to feed on human beings, and especially to rob graves, prey on corpses, etc.
- a grave robber.
- a person who revels in what is revolting.
Origin of ghoul
Examples from the Web for ghoul
Contemporary Examples of ghoul
The ghoul that keeps Putin awake at night is a Ukrainian Cossack.
In Arabic legend, a ghoul is a creature that eats both stolen corpses and children.
Historical Examples of ghoul
He was a sottish-looking fellow, and there was something of the glare of a ghoul in his eyes.
The Trail of '98Robert W. Service
It is a ghoul, it haunts his dreams, this image, with its hateful conclusions.
Fantasia of the UnconsciousD. H. Lawrence
It was the physiognomy of what I should fancy a ghoul might be.
A Stable for NightmaresJ. Sheridan Le Fanu
But then he was such a worthless vagabond, a ghoul who had robbed a dead body.
Five TalesJohn Galsworthy
We go to ashes at once, and leave no corpse for a ghoul to inhabit and make a vampire of.
Robert FalconerGeorge MacDonald
ghoul
- a malevolent spirit or ghost
- a person interested in morbid or disgusting things
- a person who robs graves
- (in Muslim legend) an evil demon thought to eat human bodies, either stolen corpses or children
Word Origin for ghoul
Word Origin and History for ghoul
1786, in the English translation of Beckford's "Vathek," from Arabic ghul, an evil spirit that robs graves and feeds on corpses, from ghala "he seized."