Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Continually recurring to the mind; unforgettable: a haunting melody.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The appearance or visitation of disembodied spirits.
Wiktionary
- v. present participle of haunt.
- n. A particular instance of haunting; a ghostly habitation.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. continually recurring to the mind
- adj. having a deeply disquieting or disturbing effect
Examples
“In the interest of avoiding such untenable consequences, the notion that a haunting is a condition which can and should be ascertained upon reasonable inspection of the premises is a hobgoblin which should be exorcised from the body of legal precedent and laid quietly to rest ...”
“Particularly haunting is the scene in which Bean destroys his trailer in a fit of unbridled rage as Boggis and Bunce look on helplessly.”
Seeing Double: Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory / Fantastic Mr. Fox » Scene-Stealers
“Lefevre captures it all in haunting and sometimes gruesome detail.”
“My own personal haunting comes from a few years back when I was a Sergeant.”
“Instead, a team that seemed Miami-bound as late as the third quarter of Sunday's AFC divisional playoff game against New England self-destructed in haunting mistakes and because the Chargers Defense let Tom Brady hang around long enough to pull off the 24th fourth-quarter comeback of his six-season career as the Patriots quarterback.”
“In fact, the more I looked at it, the more it reminded me of those metal beds you see lined up in haunting photographs of First World War military hospitals, in which a ward full of grievously injured young men — heads bandaged, empty pajama sleeves pinned up — lie propped against pillows and (if they can) glumly regard the camera.”
“Revamped as an attractive garden restaurant, its glorious past endures in haunting memorabilia, lush vegetation, and Mismaloya's sapphire bay below.”
“Usually he referred to the haunting soft strains of ambient music as “New Age mush.””
“One of the strange things about haunting is that one doesn't get to choose the shit that sticks.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘haunting’.
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Words describing singing voices
mellifluous, gravelly, rusty bathtub, velvet fog, howling, laconic, fluttering, quavery, hypnotic, stilted, lilting, sonorous and 47 more...
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catalysts
catalysts leading to action.
aka the inciting incident, point of attack there's no major rules here, broad umbrella terms or specific works for now.
( randomness, writing )trauma, death, tragedy, embarrassment, epiphany, move, literature, brink, poll numbers, innovation, injustice, another headspace and 44 more...
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♥
ambrosia, inamorata, gossamer, lily-white, hummingbird, roucoulement, poppy, daisy, calypso, lunula, lamb, dove and 1526 more...
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Random Words
lochia, confused, innoxious, naive, cockatrice, derisive, parsley, passive, casual, football, innuendo, Rumanian and 172 more...
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Twitter favourites
The new favourite words of people on Twitter.
A script searches Twitter for "X is my new favourite word" and adds it to this list.
See also:
bumwank, calamity, recalcitrant, gayenese, jeeze, nonsense, flabbergasted, juxtapose, procrastinating, ossanity, biffing, loser and 1972 more... -
Words Covered in Faery Dust (H)
words that evoke magic, mystery, mayhem, magnificence or anything else that glimmers in the grass
haberdashery, hailstone, halcyon, halibut, halo, hamadryad, hammock, harangue, harbour, harebell, harlequin, harp and 104 more...
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The Sog Collection
My big word list.
chaos, flaccid, empirical, flotsam, cacophony, grumble, assuage, awe, romance, mortality, coalesce, fortuitous and 3282 more...
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Apples to Apples: Green Cards
A complete list of the green cards (adjectives) from the popular word game.
absurd, addictive, adorable, aged, American, ancient, animated, annoying, appetizing, arrogant, awesome, awkward and 237 more...
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eloise's Words
embrace, perfect, imagine, dance, water, color, echo, hollow, sorrow, beauty, impossible, violet and 438 more...
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klumka's Words
acheronian, tenebrious, interstice, antediluvian, verdure, jejune, insouciant, stygian, ingle, infernal, snarky, snockered and 38 more...
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u s e .
mesmerize, heartbreaking, cherish, composition, compelling, blossom, unsettling, stifle, bound, caged, depart, replicate and 2 more...
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conceptual delight
An ever expanding collection of my favorite words and phrases...
bliss, radiant, enchanted, glistening, ardour, lucid, iridescent feathers, helical trajectories, sleeping aboard t..., a fruitful loom, like stones off a..., my souls trapeze and 5 more...
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She's Beautiful
exquisite, comely, bewitching, captivating, enchanting, irresistable, fetching, hypnotic, spellbinding, curvaceous, haunting, scrumptious and 28 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for haunting.

GHibbs My adjectival use: 'They love a haunting tune.'
My use as a noun: 'They reported a haunting.'
Aug 22, 2011