poltergeist
/ˈpoʊl.tɚˌɡaɪst/noun
poltergeist is spelled P-O-L-T-E-R-G-E-I-S-T: 11 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 48,775th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data, counting Poltergeist, the name). As a noun, poltergeist means “An unseen ghost which makes noises and causes disruption, especially by causing physical objects to move or fly about” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of poltergeist is poltergeists or poltergeister.
How many letters and syllables are in poltergeist?
| Letters | 11: P-O-L-T-E-R-G-E-I-S-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 48,775th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is poltergeist?
Poltergeist appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 48,775th most frequent word form in the list. The list counts every capitalisation together, so this includes Poltergeist, the name.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce poltergeist?
- US /ˈpoʊl.tɚˌɡaɪst/
- UK /ˈpɒl.tə.ɡaɪst/
- UK /ˈpəʊl.təˌɡaɪst/
Poltergeist has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-poltergeist.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of poltergeist
- poltergeists plural
- poltergeister plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does poltergeist mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
An unseen ghost which makes noises and causes disruption, especially by causing physical objects to move or fly about.
A poltergeist haunts the house by moving objects around, making chain-rattling noises and throwing things.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Poltergeist in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense disruptive ghost:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | esprit frappeur, poltergeist |
| German | Poltergeist, Klopfgeist |
| Portuguese | poltergeist |
| Spanish | poltergeist |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does poltergeist come from?
Unadapted borrowing from German Poltergeist, from poltern (“to rumble”) + Geist (“ghost”), cognates with English boulder and ghost, respectively.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).