poltergeist
/pow.teʁˈɡajs.t͡ʃi/ [poʊ̯.teɦˈɡaɪ̯s.t͡ʃi], /pow.teʁˈɡajst͡ʃ/ [poʊ̯.teɦˈɡaɪ̯st͡ʃ]
The verdict
“poltergeist” is a moderately-common Portuguese word, ranked #48,600 in Portuguese word frequency and used as a noun.
- #48,600
- frequency rank, Portuguese
- 11
- letters
- 17
- tracked misspellings
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - fenômeno tido como de origem paranormal onde um ou mais espíritos assombram um lugar provocando manifestações físicas ruidosas, com intuito de causar medo entre os vivos
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | poltergeist |
| Language | Portuguese |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /pow.teʁˈɡajs.t͡ʃi/ [poʊ̯.teɦˈɡaɪ̯s.t͡ʃi], /pow.teʁˈɡajst͡ʃ/ [poʊ̯.teɦˈɡaɪ̯st͡ʃ] |
| Letters | 11 |
| Frequency rank | #48,600 |
| Misspellings tracked | 17 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “poltergeist” sits in Portuguese frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The Portuguese entry for poltergeist is 11 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /pow.teʁˈɡajs.t͡ʃi/ [poʊ̯.teɦˈɡaɪ̯s.t͡ʃi], /pow.teʁˈɡajst͡ʃ/ [poʊ̯.teɦˈɡaɪ̯st͡ʃ]. Corpus data places it at rank #48,600 in overall Portuguese word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "fenômeno tido como de origem paranormal onde um ou mais espíritos assombram um lugar provocando manifestações físicas ruidosas, com intuito de causar medo entre os vivos".
Our generated misspelling index lists 17 likely wrong-spelling variants for poltergeist, with forms such as "opltergeist", "plotergeist", and "poletrgeist". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
This entry carries no recorded etymology, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct Portuguese form is poltergeist, spelled P-O-L-T-E-R-G-E-I-S-T.
Definition
- 1fenômeno tido como de origem paranormal onde um ou mais espíritos assombram um lugar provocando manifestações físicas ruidosas, com intuito de causar medo entre os vivos
Synonyms
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 - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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 Portuguese corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “poltergeist”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct Portuguese 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 /pow.teʁˈɡajs.t͡ʃi/ [poʊ̯.teɦˈɡaɪ̯s.t͡ʃi], /pow.teʁˈɡajst͡ʃ/ [poʊ̯.teɦˈɡaɪ̯st͡ʃ] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more Portuguese words and confusable pairs in the same reference. Portuguese 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.