poltergeist

\pɔl.tœʁ.ɡajst\

/\pɔl.tœʁ.ɡajst\/ noun

The verdict

“poltergeist” is uncommon French (frequency #76,022 among 6,826 “P” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#76,022
frequency rank, French
6,826
“P” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Fantôme bruyant, phénomène paranormal consistant en des bruits inexpliqués.

Corpus desk

Index FR-poltergeist · poltergeist · French

poltergeist · rank #76,022 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #76,022
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,826
  • PHOTO-FINISH polders

Nearest frequency peer: polders (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rangs de longue queue près de « poltergeist »

Bande clairsemée: les barres inversent le rang pour que le rare se lise plus court

corpus weight

What this shows Vue de longue queue: où « poltergeist » se situe face à des rangs français aussi rares.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for poltergeist
PropertyValue
Headwordpoltergeist
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\pɔl.tœʁ.ɡajst\
Letters11
Frequency rank#76,022
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « poltergeist » en français

Cette échelle va du noyau du français courant (gauche) jusqu'à la traîne des formes rares (droite).poltergeisttombe dans cette queue de rareté:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Les tics avancent en logarithme; chacun est de l'ordre de dix fois plus rare. Voisins rares de la même bande: « polders » (#76,021), « Polycarpe » (#76,023), « pointera » (#76,020). Parmi 6,826 lemmes en « P », « poltergeist » est au #76,022. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

poltergeist is uncommon French at frequency #76,022 among 6,826 “P” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed \pɔl.tœʁ.ɡajst\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Fantôme bruyant, phénomène paranormal consistant en des bruits inexpliqués.".

poltergeist has no tracked misspelling variants, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct French form is poltergeist, spelled P-O-L-T-E-R-G-E-I-S-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    Fantôme bruyant, phénomène paranormal consistant en des bruits inexpliqués.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how poltergeist appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Encore appelé Rumpelgeist, le poltergeist est essentiellement un « diable » , un « spectre » ou un revenant dans les écrits du XVIᵉ siècle, puis un lutin.
  2. En Europe, le christianisme a contribué à distinguer le revenant de toutes les autres apparitions que l’on rencontre dans de nombreuses sociétés : spectres, fantômes, ombres, esprits, poltergeists, dames blanches, etc.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

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 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "poltergeist"?
"poltergeist" is spelled P-O-L-T-E-R-G-E-I-S-T. The IPA pronunciation is \pɔl.tœʁ.ɡajst\.
What does "poltergeist" mean?
As a noun, "poltergeist" means: Fantôme bruyant, phénomène paranormal consistant en des bruits inexpliqués.
How do you pronounce "poltergeist"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "poltergeist" is \pɔl.tœʁ.ɡajst\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "poltergeist" come from?
"poltergeist" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "poltergeist", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list