poltergeist
/ˈpoʊl.tɚˌɡaɪst/
"poltergeist" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“poltergeist” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #48,976 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #48,976
- frequency rank, English
- 11
- letters
- 17
- tracked misspellings
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An unseen ghost which makes noises and causes disruption, especially by causing physical objects to move or fly about.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | poltergeist |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈpoʊl.tɚˌɡaɪst/ |
| Letters | 11 |
| Frequency rank | #48,976 |
| Misspellings tracked | 17 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “poltergeist” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for poltergeist is 11 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈpoʊl.tɚˌɡaɪst/. Corpus data places it at rank #48,976 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "An unseen ghost which makes noises and causes disruption, especially by causing physical objects to move or fly about.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 17 likely wrong-spelling variants for poltergeist, with forms such as "opltergeist", "plotergeist", and "poletrgeist". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: Unadapted borrowing from German Poltergeist, from poltern (“to rumble”) + Geist (“ghost”). Cognate with English boulder and ghost. The correct English form is poltergeist, spelled P-O-L-T-E-R-G-E-I-S-T.
Definition
- 1An unseen ghost which makes noises and causes disruption, especially by causing physical objects to move or fly about.
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from German Poltergeist, from poltern (“to rumble”) + Geist (“ghost”). Cognate with English boulder and ghost.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: opltergeist,plotergeist,poletrgeist,polltergeist,poltegreist,polteregist,poltergeisst,poltergeistt,poltergeits,poltergesit,polterggeist,poltergiest,polterrgeist,poltregeist,polttergeist,potlergeist,ppoltergeist
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of poltergeist - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "poltergeist"?
What does "poltergeist" mean?
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What is the origin of the word "poltergeist"?
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Using “poltergeist”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-O-L-T-E-R-G-E-I-S-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈpoʊl.tɚˌɡaɪst/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.