Word of the Day ·
doppelganger
noun
What it means
- A ghostly double of a living person, especially one that haunts such a person.
The uncanniness provoked by doppelgangers is particularly acute because the thing that becomes unfamiliar is you.
2023, Naomi Klein, Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, →ISBN1 more example
"An orderly let out the news that you are here," she said. "But don't worry. We've sent out a doppelganger to fool the Sons, and the orderly has been sentenced to slavery under the pyramid builder for twenty lifetimes. I hate my brother! How dare he fight us with the sky falling?"
1963, Lester del Rey, The Sky Is FallingSynonyms: double, doubleganger
- A remarkably similar double.
He had come tantalisingly close to his doppelganger on Thursday night when a beautiful burgundy boat cruised past him. “He saw me and I waved and he gave me a thumbs-up,” said Halicilar. “I was so happy. I cried.”
2025 June 27, Sam Jones, “Till Jeff us do part: divisive, star-studded Bezos wedding hits full swing in Venice”, in The Guardian, →ISSN1 more example
Stars in Their Eyes ran for 16 years from 1990, and had the "wow" factor moment of transforming a pub singer into their idol, as the contestant said the famous words: "Tonight Matthew, I'm going to be…" and then stepped out from a puff of dry ice as their musical doppelganger.
2021 September 15, Laura Martin, “How talent shows became TV's most bizarre programmes”, in BBC
In a sentence
"An orderly let out the news that you are here," she said. "But don't worry. We've sent out a doppelganger to fool the Sons, and the orderly has been sentenced to slavery under the pyramid builder for twenty lifetimes. I hate my brother! How dare he fight us with the sky falling?"
1963, Lester del Rey, The Sky Is Falling
Where it comes from
- GermanDoppelgänger“ghostly spirit”
- Englishdoppelganger
Borrowed from German Doppelgänger (“ghostly spirit”, literally “double-walker”).
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