haunted

IPA/ˈhɔːntɪd/
KK[hˈɔntɪd]IPA/ˈhɔːntɪd/

haunted — adjective

  • hauntedpositive
  • more hauntedcomparative
  • most hauntedsuperlative

1. describing the eyes, face, or general manner of a person who has been deeply hur

1.adjectiveC1
Definition

describing the eyes, face, or general manner of a person who has been deeply hurt by something painful and is still suffering inside, even when they say nothing about it.

Example

Abigail came home from the war with a haunted look that her mother could not soften.

haunted + look (most frequent collocation)

There was a haunted expression in Daichi's eyes whenever someone mentioned the missing children.

haunted + expression / eyes

Common collocations
  • haunted look
  • haunted eyes
  • haunted expression
  • haunted face
  • haunted voice
  • haunted quality
Synonyms
  • tormented

    stronger; suggests active inner suffering rather than its visible trace

  • anguished

    more openly emotional; tears or cries are likely visible

  • troubled

    much milder; can be everyday worry, not necessarily trauma

Antonyms

Grammar Patterns

haunted + look/eyes/expression/face

Usage Note

Almost always used before a noun referring to the face, eyes, voice, or general look of a person, not the person themselves. You say 'a haunted look', not normally 'he is haunted' (for that meaning, use the verb 'haunt' in the passive: 'he is haunted by').

Common Mistakes

Selim was very haunted after the funeral.
Selim had a haunted look after the funeral.
use 'haunted' as a modifier of look/eyes/face, not as a state of the whole person.
Her haunted is from the war.
Her haunted expression is from the war.
'haunted' is an adjective and needs a noun to modify.

2. used for a building or place that people say is regularly visited by spirits of

2.adjectiveB2
Definition

used for a building or place that people say is regularly visited by spirits of the dead, who may make strange noises, move objects, or appear in front of those who go inside.

Example

The old hotel on the cliff is said to be haunted by a sailor who drowned in 1882.

passive: be haunted by + ghost identity

Élise refused to spend the night in her grandmother's haunted attic, even on a dare.

haunted + room/place noun

Common collocations
  • haunted house
  • haunted castle
  • haunted hotel
  • haunted attic
  • haunted mansion
  • supposedly haunted
Synonyms
  • ghostly

    describes the ghost itself or its atmosphere, not the place that contains it

  • spooky

    informal; means 'feels frightening', without claiming actual ghosts live there

Grammar Patterns

haunted + house/castle/hotel/place

Usage Note

Used for places, not for people in this sense. The passive frame 'haunted by [a named ghost]' is very common when explaining who is supposed to do the haunting. Often appears in horror titles, ghost-tour names, and Halloween language.

Common Mistakes

The man is haunted in the castle.
The castle is haunted.
places, not people, are 'haunted' in this ghost sense.
It is a haunted from a sailor.
It is haunted by a sailor.
use 'by' to introduce who is doing the haunting.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

All four describe inner suffering, but they differ in intensity and what is visible. 'Haunted' is the trace of past pain that you can read in someone's face, eyes, or voice — quiet, lasting, and often left behind by a single terrible event. 'Tormented' is stronger and more active: the person is still being pulled apart by the pain right now, like Faisal pacing the room every night unable to sleep. 'Anguished' shows openly: tears, cries, or a face twisted in pain, suitable for funerals and emergencies. 'Troubled' is the mildest and most everyday — you can feel troubled about a deadline. Use 'haunted' for the person who has stopped crying but cannot forget; use 'tormented' for the person whose pain still moves; use 'anguished' for the moment of breakdown.

haunted ↗tormented ↗troubled ↗anguished ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • haunted look
  • haunted eyes
  • haunted expression
  • haunted face
  • haunted house
  • haunted castle
  • haunted hotel

Adverbs

  • clearly haunted
  • still haunted
  • deeply haunted
  • obviously haunted

Phrases

  • a haunted look in someone's eyes
  • be said to be haunted
  • supposedly haunted by

Prepositions

  • haunted by

Etymology

Old FrenchMiddle EnglishModern English

The verb 'haunt' came into English in the early 1200s from Old French 'hanter', meaning 'to visit a place often'. The adjective 'haunted' developed from the past participle of this verb. The ghost meaning grew stronger from the late 1500s, when English writers (including Shakespeare) used 'haunt' for spirits returning to a place again and again. The figurative 'haunted look' meaning — pain visible on a person's face — appeared in literary use in the 1800s, as novels began to describe trauma through outward expression rather than direct narration.