as in demons
an evil spirit
in Arabic folklore, ghouls could change their shapes but had one unchanging feature: donkey's hooves for feet
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of ghouls
Kids can trick-or-treat at Calico Ghost Town shops and businesses before the sun falls and ghouls fill the park.
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Brady MacDonald, Oc Register, 29 Dec. 2025
No disrespect to Purnell, who perfectly calibrated Lucy’s intrinsic hopefulness in the first season and slowly begins to curdle it this go-round as Lucy spends more time among ghouls, raiders, cannibals, and various other feuding factions.
—Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 16 Dec. 2025
For centuries, a peace treaty between humans and the Black World — which houses all manner of witches, demons, and ghouls — has been in place to ensure separation between the two factions.
—Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 30 Oct. 2025
Participants are encouraged to come dressed as ghosts, ghouls, vampires, witches or pop culture characters.
—Marcus Smith, Sacbee.com, 30 Oct. 2025
The electric vehicle company is rolling out a seasonal theme as a part of its software update that's made for ghouls, goblins and things that go bump in the night.
—Charles Singh, USA Today, 29 Oct. 2025
But this Halloween, chasing away the ghouls haunting Tesla looks like a miracle too far.
—Shawn Tully, Fortune, 23 Oct. 2025
Jack-o-lanterns, ghouls and goblins are around every corner, but the scariest creatures of all might be thousands of feet below the ocean’s surface.
—Irene Wright, Miami Herald, 13 Oct. 2025
Forget goblins and ghouls—being secretly watched and filmed by a stranger is one of my worst fears, especially as a solo female traveler.
—Amelia McBride, Travel + Leisure, 7 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ghouls
Noun
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Nas sounds hungry again, his dense, circular writing a tangle of flashbacks and evocative images of preachers rebuking demons and Yoda smoking blunts.—
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First, of course, is Nakache’s incredible resilience in the face of the demons of his past, which stem from the greater history of his country.—
Noun
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Tony Sparano, whom Ross inherited, Joe Philbin, Adam Gase, Brian Flores and Mike McDaniel are the ghosts who haunt this franchise.—
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Pine, who struggles with the ghosts of his past, leads a surveillance group called The Night Owls and is meant to stay out of the action.—
Noun
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Their opening night gets interrupted when blood thirsty vampires are lured in by the musical talents of Sammie (Miles Caton), a young blues musician.—
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What draws the vampires to the juke joint?—
Noun
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And then there are the infernal workers who make sure that Lucifer’s realm runs smoothly, among them farting devils, giants in chains, and a flying monster with the body of a serpent and the face of an honest man.—
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In odd years, the company produces the story of a group of pastores making a perilous trek to Bethlehem to pay their respects to the Holy Manger while fighting devils and their powerful leader Luzbel.—
Cite this Entry
“Ghouls.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ghouls. Accessed 14 Jan. 2026.
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