Meanings
poltergeist1
plural poltergeists · plural poltergeister
- parapsychologyAn unseen ghost which makes noises and causes disruption, especially by causing physical objects to move or fly about.
The chapel is haunted by a demonic poltergeist.
3 more examples
A poltergeist haunts the house by moving objects around, making chain-rattling noises and throwing things.
"Perhaps even a small poltergeist might come your way. Any trifle would be welcome." His bull's bellow of laughter followed them into the lift.
1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019I risk becoming nothing more than a common poltergeist wallowing in regrets and introspection and other terrible things.
2013, Kazerad, Aggy: Approach, in: Prequel -or- Making a Cat Cry: The Adventure (webcomic), November 22 2013
Poltergeist2
- astronomyA planet in Lich star system, Milky Way Galaxy, Virgo constellation; One of the pair of planets that were the first exoplanets which were discovered. A planet in orbit of the pulsar Lich (PSR B1257+12)
Synonyms: PSR B1257+12 B, PSR B1257+12
Synonyms & antonyms
proper nounA planet in Lich star system, Milky Way Galaxy, Virgo constellation; One of the pair of planets that were the first exoplanets which were discovered. A planet in orbit of the pulsar Lich (PSR B1257+12)
Origin
poltergeist · noun
- GermanPoltergeist
- Englishpoltergeist
Unadapted borrowing from German Poltergeist, from poltern (“to rumble”) + Geist (“ghost”), cognates with English boulder and ghost, respectively.
More words from German
Full word history & related roots →Poltergeist · proper noun
From poltergeist, the supernatural entity. From orbiting a neutron star, a "dead" star, a star that no longer contains a fusion core, but which is radiating away its stored energy.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic رُوح شَرِيرَة
- رُوح شَرِيرَة (rūḥ šarīra)disruptive ghost
Bulgarian полтъргайст
- полтъргайст (poltărgajst)disruptive ghost
Chinese Mandarin 騷靈 /骚灵
- 騷靈 /骚灵 (sāolíng)disruptive ghost
Czech poltergeist
- poltergeistdisruptive ghost
Dutch klopgeest, poltergeest
- klopgeestdisruptive ghost
- poltergeestdisruptive ghost
Esperanto poltergejsto, brufantomo
- poltergejstodisruptive ghost
- brufantomodisruptive ghost
Finnish räyhähenki, poltergeist
- räyhähenkidisruptive ghost
- poltergeistdisruptive ghost
French esprit frappeur, poltergeist
- esprit frappeurdisruptive ghost
- poltergeistdisruptive ghost
German Poltergeist, Klopfgeist
- Poltergeistdisruptive ghost
- Klopfgeistdisruptive ghost
Greek πόλτεργκαϊστ
- πόλτεργκαϊστ (póltergkaïst)disruptive ghost
Hungarian kopogó szellem
- kopogó szellemdisruptive ghost
Italian poltergeist
- poltergeistdisruptive ghost
Japanese ポルターガイスト現象, ポルターガイスト
- ポルターガイスト現象 (porutāgaisuto genshō)disruptive ghost
- ポルターガイスト (porutāgaisuto)disruptive ghost
Korean 폴터가이스트
- 폴터가이스트 (polteogaiseuteu)disruptive ghost
Latvian poltergeists
- poltergeistsdisruptive ghost
Lithuanian poltergeistas
- poltergeistasdisruptive ghost
Māori poketai
- poketaidisruptive ghost
Norwegian poltergeist, bankeånd
- poltergeistdisruptive ghost
- bankeånddisruptive ghost
Polish poltergeist
- poltergeistdisruptive ghost
Portuguese poltergeist
- poltergeistdisruptive ghost
Russian полтерге́йст
- полтерге́йст (poltɛrgéjst)disruptive ghost
Spanish poltergeist
- poltergeistdisruptive ghost
Swedish poltergeist
- poltergeistdisruptive ghost
Ukrainian полтерге́йст
- полтерге́йст (polterhéjst)disruptive ghost
Vietnamese yêu tinh
- yêu tinhdisruptive ghost
Cite this entry
poltergeist. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/poltergeist
“poltergeist.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/poltergeist. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “poltergeist,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/poltergeist.
Source: poltergeist on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.