ghoul
Americannoun
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ghouls
plural
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an evil demon, originally of Muslim legend, supposed to feed on human beings, and especially to rob graves, prey on corpses, etc.
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a grave robber.
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a person who revels in what is revolting.
noun
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a malevolent spirit or ghost
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a person interested in morbid or disgusting things
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a person who robs graves
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(in Muslim legend) an evil demon thought to eat human bodies, either stolen corpses or children
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of ghoul
First recorded in 1780–90, ghoul is from the Arabic word ghūl
Explanation
A ghoul is an evil demon, ghost, or fiend. On Halloween, the kids dressed as fairies and pumpkins look cute. The kids dressed as ghouls, with fake blood dripping down their faces and hair matted in knots? Not so cute. The word ghoul originates in the Arabic word “ghul,” which refers to an evil spirit that digs up graves and eats the dead. Some confuse ghoul with the word “gremlin,” but the two are not interchangeable. A gremlin does not gorge on the flesh of the dead; it is more a mischievous imp and troublemaker, famous for causing mechanical difficulties in World War II aircraft.
Vocabulary lists containing ghoul
The Grim Reader: Wicked Words of Grave Importance for Halloween
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English Words Derived from Arabic
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Nine Stories
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Turns out he’s a modern-day Samson: his lack of hair was the reason he was such a soulless ghoul.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 31, 2025
Beetlejuice's sequel sees Keaton reprise his role as the titular chaos-causing ghoul.
From BBC ● Aug. 28, 2024
Taking a pause to gather herself from his blunt answer, the comedian tried again to one-up the mendacious ghoul.
From Salon ● Jan. 2, 2024
Whatever the mind conjures up, custom-made for unique neuroses and fears, may well be scarier than any tangible monster or ghoul.
From New York Times ● Oct. 3, 2023
The Demiguise escaped on board the ship and bred with a stowaway ghoul.
From "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" by J.K. Rowling
However, as the season goes on, "even Rue can't quite make you care about this sorry group of amoral ghouls, who seem to loathe themselves as much as each other", Halls concluded.
From BBC ● Apr. 13, 2026
Others were more sympathetic but still unsettled by what he was doing not only to himself but also to his teenage children, who will have to deal with the ugly reactions of social-media ghouls.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 31, 2026
The streets are full of ghouls, masked horrors, and terrifying make-up—also it will be Halloween soon.
From Slate ● Oct. 24, 2025
The galloping ghouls in their low-budget 2002 thriller “28 Days Later” reinvigorated the genre.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 19, 2025
If she yelled out, those ghouls would know exactly where she was.
From "Shadowshaper" by Daniel José Older
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
