ghoul

• ghole

Borrowed from French goule, from Persian غول (ġul) from Arabic غُول (ḡūl).

• IPA^(key): /ɡuːl/, /ɡʊəl/

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• (Scotland, Northern Ireland) IPA^(key): /ɡʉl/
• Rhymes: -uːl

ghoul (plural ghouls)

1. (mythology) A demon said to feed on corpses.
   • 1927, H.P. Lovecraft, Pickman's Model‎^[1]:

     The other chamber had shown a pack of ghouls and witches over-running the world of our forefathers, but this one brought the horror right into our own daily life!.

   • 1962, “Monster Mash”, Bobby "Boris" Pickett and Lenny Capizzi (lyrics), performed by Bobby (Boris) Pickett and The Crypt-Kickers:

     From my laboratory in the Castle east
     To the master bedroom, where the vampires feast
     The ghouls all came from their humble abodes
     To get a jolt from my electrodes
     They did the Mash
     They did the Monster Mash.

2. A graverobber.
3. A person with an undue interest in death and corpses, or more generally in things that are revolting and repulsive.
4. (derogatory, colloquial) A person with a callous or uncaring attitude to human life and suffering, particularly when prioritizing economic concerns.
   • 1950, Norman Lindsay, Dust or Polish?, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 195:

     Restored to bumptiousness, Peter arrived jauntily in the kitchen, to survey Mrs Dibble's body as a spectacle new to him, and remark, "So the old trout's done herself in properly this time, I'm told. About time she did, the way she's been going on here." "Shut up, you old ghoul, and help Dr Grimsby to carry her upstairs."

• (demon) Algol
• (graverobber) resurrection man, resurrectionist, body snatcher

• jinn
• jann
• nasnas
• shaitan
• angel

• Portuguese: ghoul

• Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “ghoul”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

• Lough, lough

Unadapted borrowing from English ghoul, from Persian غول (ġul).

ghoul m (plural ghouls)

1. (mythology, folklore) ghoul (a spirit said to feed on corpses)