poltergeist

[pohl-ter-gahyst]

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noun

a ghost or spirit supposed to manifest its presence by noises, knockings, etc.

Origin of poltergeist

1840–50; < German Poltergeist, equivalent to polter(n) to make noise, knock, rattle + Geist ghost

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

Related Words for poltergeist

phantom, apparition, spook, appearance, visitor, spirit, revenant, doppelganger, demon, phantasm, specter, vision, kelpie, banshee, haunter

Examples from the Web for poltergeist

Contemporary Examples of poltergeist

H.R. Giger, best known for his work on movies like Alien and Poltergeist 2, died at the age of 74.
Hollywood’s Sci-Fi Artist H.R. Giger Dead at 74
Justin Jones
May 13, 2014
The plot hews close to Poltergeist, the Tobe Hooper-directed, Steven Spielberg-produced haunted house classic from 1982.
Insidious' Unsettling Horror
Keith Phipps
April 1, 2011

Historical Examples of poltergeist

I was told you claimed you had to have a poltergeist in the process.
Sense from Thought Divide
Mark Irvin Clifton
Yet where did these articles go, and of what use would they be to a poltergeist?
Byways of Ghost-Land
Elliott O'Donnell
In case you rejected our applicant for the poltergeist job you have in mind, I was to hand you this.
Sense from Thought Divide
Mark Irvin Clifton
On this theory they sent her to her home in a neighboring village, where the poltergeist continued to annoy her.
Adventurings in the Psychical
H. Addington Bruce
Poltergeist phenomena, however, seldom coincide with the ordinary phenomena of a haunt.
Human Personality and its Survival of Bodily Death
Frederick W. H. Myers

British Dictionary definitions for poltergeist

poltergeist

noun

a spirit believed to manifest its presence by rappings and other noises and also by acts of mischief, such as throwing furniture about

Word Origin for poltergeist

C19: from German, from poltern to be noisy + Geist ghost

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 poltergeist

1838, from German Poltergeist, literally "noisy ghost," from poltern "make noise, rattle" (from PIE root *bhel- (4) "to sound, ring, roar;" cf. bellow, bell) + Geist "ghost" (see ghost). In the native idiom of Northern England, such phenomenon likely would be credited to a boggart.