haunted

[ hawn-tid, hahn- ]

/ ˈhɔn tɪd, ˈhɑn- /

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.

RELATED WORDS

obsessed

Nearby words

Origin of haunted

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

Related formsun·haunt·ed, adjective

Definition for haunted (2 of 2)

haunt

[ hawnt, hahnt; for 10 also hant ]

/ hɔnt, hɑnt; for 10 also hænt /

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

SYNONYMS FOR haunt

3 frequent.

5 obsess, beset, vex, plague.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR haunt ON THESAURUS.COM

Related formshaunt·er, noun

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

Examples from the Web for 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|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST

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|DAILY BEAST
Miss Dalrymple then took one of the older servants into confidence, and asked her if the house was haunted.
Ghostly Phenomena|Elliot O'Donnell.
We parted and went our several ways, leaving the little cloisters to solitude and the ghosts that haunted them.
Glories of Spain|Charles W. Wood
Her blue eyes burned on the gems with a strange and haunted light.
The Best Short Stories of 1921 and the Yearbook of the American Short Story|Various
And was the four-funnelled, twin-screwed Parana but a ghostly ship bearing a cargo of haunted souls into their earthly purgatory?
The Wild Olive|Basil King
And to think that this is but one of thousands of cases for ever haunted by their own hideousness, for ever dependent on others.
Eighteen Months in the War Zone|Kate John Finzi

British Dictionary definitions for haunted (1 of 2)

haunted

/ (ˈhɔːntɪd) /

adjective

frequented or visited by ghosts

(postpositive) obsessed or worried

British Dictionary definitions for haunted (2 of 2)

haunt

/ (hɔːnt) /

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 (1 of 2)

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.

Word Origin and History for haunted (1 of 2)

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.

haunted

adjective

RELATED CONTENT

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of haunted

Definition for haunted (2 of 2)

haunt

verb (used with object)

verb (used without object)

noun

Origin of haunt

Examples from the Web for haunted

British Dictionary definitions for haunted (1 of 2)

haunted

adjective

British Dictionary definitions for haunted (2 of 2)

haunt

verb

noun

Word Origin for haunt

Word Origin and History for haunted (1 of 2)

haunt

Word Origin and History for haunted (1 of 2)

haunt