ghoul

C2+ Topic:General Vocabulary

US /ɡul/ UK /ɡuːl/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
an evil spirit said to rob graves and feed on corpses

In the legend a ghoul prowled the cemetery after midnight.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · an evil spirit said to rob... demon specter fiend monster spirit

Word family

Derived forms ghoulishghoulishlyghoulishness

Simplified etymology

Ghoul entered English in the late 18th century from Arabic ġūl, a desert demon believed to rob graves for food.

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic ghūl ('a desert demon'), from ghāla ('to seize, snatch').

غول Arabic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

General Vocabulary

External links

# ghoul

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ɡul/
**IPA (UK):** /ɡuːl/

## Meanings
1. an evil spirit said to rob graves and feed on corpses

## Examples
- In the legend a ghoul prowled the cemetery after midnight.

## Synonyms
- demon
- specter
- fiend
- monster
- spirit

## Derived Forms
- ghoulish
- ghoulishly
- ghoulishness

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: غول

## Etymology
Borrowed from Arabic ghūl ('a desert demon'), from ghāla ('to seize, snatch').

## AI Etymology
Ghoul is traced as follows: Borrowed from Arabic ghūl ('a desert demon'), from ghāla ('to seize, snatch'). The development is chiefly a borrowing or learned continuation, carrying an older form and meaning into English rather than building the word from a purely native base. In present use, it is used as a noun meaning "an evil spirit said to rob graves and feed on corpses", so the historical material remains connected with the current sense rather than standing as bare ancestry. The wider English family includes derivatives such as ghoulish, ghoulishly, and ghoulishness, showing how the same historical material continues to organize neighboring vocabulary. The named historical forms include Arabic غول, keeping the history tied to concrete forms rather than a loose resemblance. Its semantic neighborhood includes demon, specter, fiend, and monster, locating the modern specialization without adding a new origin story.

## Topics
- General Vocabulary

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