ghoul · noun — A demon said to feed on corpses. It carries an Arena rating of 1498, earned across 2 head-to-head judged battles.
Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, ghoul ranks #274 of 17,171 for Scariest Words, #383 of 17,166 for Most Vivid Words, #449 of 17,188 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #842 of 17,146 for Most Storied Words.
ghoul is pronounced /ɡuːl/.
Why “ghoul” is a great word
A demon or evil spirit that robs graves and feeds on corpses; by extension, a person with a morbid interest in death or revolting things. Its name descends from the Arabic ḡūl, a demon that robs graves and devours corpses, through Persian ġul and into French goule. Unlike a zombie—a reanimated corpse, shambling and vacant—or a necrophile—whose interest is specifically sexual, a ghoul is a preternatural, intelligent entity that chooses its grisly communion. It is the shadow detaching itself from the tombstone, the wet sound in the silence of the charnel house, the collector who handles relics with a lover's tenderness—an embodiment of the most profound hunger, which is not for flesh, but for the intimacy of final things.
❧ Essay by Lexicurio’s AI · definition, etymology & citations from published sources
Etymology
Borrowed from French goule, from Persian غول (ġul) from Arabic غُول (ḡūl).
noun
- A demon said to feed on corpses.e.g.“The other chamber had shown a pack of ghouls and witches over-running the world of our forefathers, but this one brought the horror right into our own daily life!.” — 1927, H.P. Lovecraft, Pickman's Model:
- A graverobber.
- A person with an undue interest in death and corpses, or more generally in things that are revolting and repulsive.e.g.“Cars were parked on boh sides of the highway, the usual ghouls, of both sexes.” — 1939, Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep, →ISBN, page 45:
- A person with a callous or uncaring attitude to human life and suffering, particularly when prioritizing economic concerns.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.
- ghoulism 66% match — Ghoulish behaviour; the quality of being or acting like a ghoul. vs ghoul →
- ghoulish 65% match — Of or pertaining to ghouls. vs ghoul →
- ghoulery 65% match — ghoulishness vs ghoul →
- zombie 63% match — A person, usually undead, animated by unnatural forces (such as magic), with no soul or will of his or her own, typically being slow, obedient, and harmless unless directed to be harmful. vs ghoul →
- goblin 59% match — Traditionally, a supernatural being of folklore, typically small and grotesque or misshapen, that commonly haunts dark places, often mischievous or malevolent; a type of evil elf, sprite, or demon. vs ghoul →
- strigoi 59% match — In Balkan folklore, the troubled souls of the dead rising from the grave. vs ghoul →
- vampire 57% match — A mythological creature (usually humanoid and undead) said to feed on the blood or life energy of the living. vs ghoul →
- boggard 55% match — A bogey: a ghost, goblin, or other hostile supernatural creature, especially a small local spirit haunting gloomy places or the scenes of violence. vs ghoul →