haunt
To stay in someone’s mind again and again and make them feel bad, worried, or sad.
To come back repeatedly to someone’s mind and cause worry, fear, sadness, or discomfort.
If a ghost haunts a place, it stays or comes there again and again.
Of a ghost or spirit: to appear in or live around a place repeatedly, especially in stories or beliefs.
To go to the same place again and again, often for pleasure or habit.
To go to a particular place regularly, especially over a long period of time.
A place where a person or group often goes.
A place that someone or a particular group goes to regularly, especially for pleasure, socializing, or a usual activity.
A place where people believe a ghost often comes.
A place where a ghost or spirit is believed to regularly appear or stay.
- Base: haunt
- Plural: haunts
- Base: haunt
- 3rd Person Singular: haunts
- Present Participle: haunting
- Past: haunted
a favorite haunt
1Place someone loves to visit often
A place that a person likes very much and goes to many times.
- This riverside bar is a favorite haunt of local musicians.
- The little bakery on the corner became their favorite haunt.
- In college, the library café was my favorite haunt.
come back to haunt someone
1Past actions cause later trouble
If something you did in the past comes back to haunt you, it creates problems for you later.
- His lies eventually came back to haunt him when the emails were released.
- The company’s decision to ignore safety rules came back to haunt it in court.
- Be careful what you post online; it could come back to haunt you years from now.
haunt someone's dreams
1Appear in disturbing dreams repeatedly
To appear again and again in someone’s bad or strong dreams, usually making them feel afraid or upset.
- The image of the sinking ship still haunts his dreams.
- Scenes from the war haunt her dreams every night.
- That terrible accident has haunted my dreams for months.
haunted by the past
1Deeply troubled by past events
To feel strong, continuing pain, guilt, or sadness because of things that happened before.
- He is still haunted by the past and cannot forgive himself for what happened.
- The country remains haunted by the past, struggling to deal with old injustices.
- She seems haunted by the past whenever anyone mentions her childhood.
old haunt
1Place someone used to visit often
A place where someone often went in the past.
- We met at one of our old haunts from university.
- He drove past his old haunts and felt suddenly nostalgic.
- They decided to revisit their old haunt by the river.