doppelganger means A ghostly double of a living person, especially one that haunts such a person. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 79 out of 100.
Why this word is great
DOPPELGÄNGER — [Noun] A ghostly or supernatural double of a living person, often considered an omen or harbinger of misfortune. From the German Doppelgänger, literally "double-walker," from doppel- ("double") and Gänger ("walker, goer"). Unlike a twin—a biological fact of shared origin—or a lookalike—a benign coincidence of features—a doppelgänger is an ontological trespass, a spectral fracture in identity. It is the shadow that moves a second late; the face seen in a rain-streaked window that is, impossibly, your own; the silhouette in a crowded square that melts away wearing your form. To meet one is to feel the self become a stranger—the cold proof that identity is a membrane, not a fortress.
noun
- A ghostly double of a living person, especially one that haunts such a person.“"An orderly let out the news that you are here," she said. "But don't worry. We've sent out a doppelganger to fool the Sons, and the orderly has been sentenced to slavery under the pyramid builder for twenty lifetimes. I hate my brother! How dare he fight us with the sky falling?"”
- An evil twin.
- A remarkably similar double.“Stars in Their Eyes ran for 16 years from 1990, and had the "wow" factor moment of transforming a pub singer into their idol, as the contestant said the famous words: "Tonight Matthew, I'm going to be…" and then stepped out from a puff of dry ice as their musical doppelganger.”
- A monster that takes the forms of people, usually after killing them.