haunting
Use Haunting in a sentence
tɪŋ, ˈhɑn- adjective
1.
remaining in the consciousness; not quickly forgotten: haunting music; haunting memories.
noun
2.
the act of a person or thing that haunts; visitation.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
verb (used with object)
1.
to visit habitually or appear to frequently as a spirit or ghost: to haunt a house; to haunt a person.
2.
to recur persistently to the consciousness of; remain with: Memories of love haunted him.
3.
to visit frequently; go to often: He haunted the galleries and bars that the artists went to.
4.
to frequent the company of; be often with: He haunted famous men, hoping to gain celebrity for himself.
5.
to disturb or distress; cause to have anxiety; trouble; worry: His youthful escapades came back to haunt him.
verb (used without object)
6.
to reappear continually as a spirit or ghost.
7.
to visit habitually or regularly.
8.
to remain persistently; loiter; stay; linger.
noun
9.
Often, haunts. a place frequently visited: to return to one's old haunts.
10.
Chiefly Midland and Southern U.S. and North England. a ghost.
Origin:
1200–50; Middle English haunten < Old French hanter to frequent, probably < Old Norse heimta to lead home, derivative of heim homewards; see home
1200–50; Middle English haunten < Old French hanter to frequent, probably < Old Norse heimta to lead home, derivative of heim homewards; see home
Related forms
haunt·er, noun
Synonyms
3. frequent. 5. obsess, beset, vex, plague.
3. frequent. 5. obsess, beset, vex, plague.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
|
Link To haunting
00:10
Haunting
is always a great word to know.
So is interrobang. Does it mean:
| a chattering or flighty, light-headed person. |
| a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question. |
Collins
World English Dictionary
haunt (hɔːnt) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —vb | |
| 1. | to visit (a person or place) in the form of a ghost |
| 2. | (tr) to intrude upon or recur to (the memory, thoughts, etc): he was haunted by the fear of insanity |
| 3. | to visit (a place) frequently |
| 4. | to associate with (someone) frequently |
| —n | |
| 5. | (often plural) a place visited frequently: an old haunt of hers |
| 6. | a place to which animals habitually resort for food, drink, shelter, etc |
| [C13: from Old French hanter, of Germanic origin; compare Old Norse heimta to bring home, Old English hāmettan to give a home to; see | |
| 'haunter | |
| —n | |
| haunting (ˈhɔːntɪŋ) | |
| —adj | |
| 1. | (of memories) poignant or persistent |
| 2. | poignantly sentimental; enchantingly or eerily evocative |
| 'hauntingly | |
| —adv | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
haunt
early 13c., from O.Fr. hanter "to frequent, resort to, be familiar with" (12c.), probably from O.N. heimta "bring home," from P.Gmc. *khaimat-janan, from *khaimaz- (see home). Use in ref. to a spirit returning to the house where it had lived perhaps was in P.Gmc., but it was
reinforced by Shakespeare's plays, and it is first recorded 1590 in "A Midsummer Night's Dream." The noun meaning "spirit that haunts a place, ghost" is first recorded 1843, originally in stereotypical U.S. black speech. Haunts (n.) "place or places one frequents" is early 14c., from the verb.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Example sentences
If his ghost is haunting the ballrooms of our time, it is certain the number is still further reduced.
In the meantime, the implications of their work are haunting.
The spectre of state failure is haunting hitherto calm locations too.
It's a statement that's now haunting the star pitcher.
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