haunted

[hawn-tid, hahn-]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR haunted ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

inhabited or frequented by ghosts: a haunted castle.

preoccupied, as with an emotion, memory, or idea; obsessed: His haunted imagination gave him no peace.

disturbed; distressed; worried: Haunted by doubt he again turned to law books on the subject.

Origin of haunted

Middle English word dating back to 1275–1325; see origin at haunt, -ed²

Related formsun·haunt·ed, adjective

haunt

[hawnt, hahnt; for 10 also hant]

verb (used with object)

to visit habitually or appear to frequently as a spirit or ghost: to haunt a house; to haunt a person.

to recur persistently to the consciousness of; remain with: Memories of love haunted him.

to visit frequently; go to often: He haunted the galleries and bars that the artists went to.

to frequent the company of; be often with: He haunted famous men, hoping to gain celebrity for himself.

to disturb or distress; cause to have anxiety; trouble; worry: His youthful escapades came back to haunt him.

verb (used without object)

to reappear continually as a spirit or ghost.

to visit habitually or regularly.

to remain persistently; loiter; stay; linger.

noun

Often haunts. a place frequently visited: to return to one's old haunts.

Chiefly Midland and Southern U.S. and North England. a ghost.

Origin of haunt

1200–50; Middle English haunten < Old French hanter to frequent, probably < Old Norse heimta to lead home, derivative of heim homewards; see home

Related formshaunt·er, noun

Synonyms for haunt

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR haunt ON THESAURUS.COM

3. frequent. 5. obsess, beset, vex, plague.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for haunted

obsessed

Examples from the Web for haunted

Contemporary Examples of haunted

He read technical journals about film and haunted the theaters and film production companies.
Alfred Hitchcock’s Fade to Black: The Great Director’s Final Days
David Freeman
December 13, 2014
Even though the police and my family and friends believed me, that one voice of doubt is the one that haunted me most.
How I Stopped My Rapist
Natasha Alexenko
November 24, 2014
Were Israeli soldiers so haunted by what they saw and did in the last Gaza war that they took their own lives?
The Ghosts of Gaza: Israel’s Soldier Suicides
Creede Newton
October 28, 2014
The Lotus and the Storm turns out to be a grand, haunted melodrama with elements of camp, delivered in fragmentary reveries.
A Different Kind of Vietnam Story
J.T. Price
October 9, 2014
Or go to Mougins and get a local realtor to tell you stories of Edith Piaf's haunted house.
No Movie Stars, No Red Carpet, But Off-Season Cannes Is Still Magic
Liza Foreman
September 15, 2014

Historical Examples of haunted

I am haunted by the thought that my car may break down when I have a load of wounded.
Ballads of a Bohemian
Robert W. Service
The dread of French domination seems to have haunted him like a nightmare.
Biographical Sketches
Nathaniel Hawthorne
It haunted him every moment, and added to the weight of sorrow which seemed crushing him.
Life in London
Edwin Hodder
Her very brain and blood were haunted with the presence of Corney's father.
Weighed and Wanting
George MacDonald
The phrase has haunted me since I heard it, less than an hour ago.
In the Midst of Alarms
Robert Barr

British Dictionary definitions for haunted

haunted

adjective

frequented or visited by ghosts

(postpositive) obsessed or worried

haunt

verb

to visit (a person or place) in the form of a ghost

(tr) to intrude upon or recur to (the memory, thoughts, etc)he was haunted by the fear of insanity

to visit (a place) frequently

to associate with (someone) frequently

noun

(often plural) a place visited frequentlyan old haunt of hers

a place to which animals habitually resort for food, drink, shelter, etc

Derived Formshaunter, noun

Word Origin for haunt

C13: from Old French hanter, of Germanic origin; compare Old Norse heimta to bring home, Old English hāmettan to give a home to; see home

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for haunted

haunt

"place frequently visited," c.1300, also in Middle English, "habit, custom" (early 14c.), from haunt (v.). The meaning "spirit that haunts a place, ghost" is first recorded 1843, originally in stereotypical U.S. black speech.

haunt

early 13c., "to practice habitually, busy oneself with, take part in," from Old French hanter "to frequent, resort to, be familiar with" (12c.), probably from Old Norse heimta "bring home," from Proto-Germanic *haimat-janan, from *haimaz- (see home). Meaning "to frequent (a place)" is c.1300 in English. Use in reference to a spirit returning to the house where it had lived perhaps was in Proto-Germanic, but it was reinforced by Shakespeare's plays, and it is first recorded 1590 in "A Midsummer Night's Dream." Related: Haunted; haunting. Middle English hauntingly meant "frequently;" sense of "so as to haunt one's thoughts or memory" is from 1859.