doppelganger

See also: doppelgänger and Doppelgänger

English

WOTD – 15 July 2009

Alternative forms

• doppelgänger

Etymology

PIE word *dwóh₁

PIE root *ǵʰengʰ-

Borrowed from German Doppelgänger (“ghostly spirit”, literally “double-walker”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈdɒp(ə)lˌɡɛŋə/, /-ˌɡæŋə/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈdɑp(ə)lˌɡɛŋəɹ/, /-ˌɡæŋəɹ/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

doppelganger (plural doppelgangers)

1. A ghostly double of a living person, especially one that haunts such a person.

   Synonyms: double, doubleganger

   • 1963, Lester del Rey, The Sky Is Falling:

     "An orderly let out the news that you are here," she said. "But don't worry. We've sent out a doppelganger to fool the Sons, and the orderly has been sentenced to slavery under the pyramid builder for twenty lifetimes. I hate my brother! How dare he fight us with the sky falling?"

2. An evil twin.

   Synonym: alter ego

3. A remarkably similar double.

   Synonyms: lookalike, alter ego

   • 2021 September 15, Laura Martin, “How talent shows became TV's most bizarre programmes”, in BBC‎^[1]:

     Stars in Their Eyes ran for 16 years from 1990, and had the "wow" factor moment of transforming a pub singer into their idol, as the contestant said the famous words: "Tonight Matthew, I'm going to be…" and then stepped out from a puff of dry ice as their musical doppelganger.

   • 2025 June 27, Sam Jones, “Till Jeff us do part: divisive, star-studded Bezos wedding hits full swing in Venice”, in The Guardian‎^[2], →ISSN:

     He had come tantalisingly close to his doppelganger on Thursday night when a beautiful burgundy boat cruised past him. “He saw me and I waved and he gave me a thumbs-up,” said Halicilar. “I was so happy. I cried.”

4. (fantasy) A monster that takes the forms of people, usually after killing them.

Related terms

• doubleganger

Translations

ghostly double of a living person

• Belarusian: двайні́к m (dvajník), двайні́ца f (dvajníca)
• Bulgarian: дво́йник (bg) m (dvójnik), дво́йничка f (dvójnička), дво́йница f (dvójnica)
• Catalan: please add this translation if you can
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 分身 (zh) (fēnshēn)

• Danish: dobbeltgænger c
• Dutch: dubbelganger (nl) m
• Finnish: kaksoisolento (fi)
• German: Doppelgänger (de) m
• Hindi: हमशक्ल (hamśakla)
• Icelandic: tvífari m
• Irish: taise f
• Italian: doppelgänger m, doppione (it) m, alter ego (it) m
• Japanese: ドッペルゲンガー (ja) (dopperugengā)
• Korean: 도플갱어 (dopeulgaeng'eo)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: dobbeltgjenger m

• Persian: همزاد (fa) (hamzâd), همشکل (fa) (hamšakl)
• Polish: sobowtór (pl) m
• Portuguese: doppelganger (pt) m, Doppelgänger m, outro eu (pt) m
• Punjabi: ਹਮਸ਼ਕਲ (hamśakal)
• Russian: допельга́нгер m (dopelʹgánger), доппельга́нгер (ru) m (doppelʹgánger), двойни́к (ru) m (dvojník), двойни́ца (ru) f (dvojníca)
• Scottish Gaelic: co-choisiche m, samhla m
• Spanish: otro yo m
• Swedish: dubbelgångare (sv) c
• Ukrainian: допельга́нгер m (dopelʹhánher), двійни́к (uk) m (dvijnýk), двійни́ця f (dvijnýcja)
• Urdu: ہمشکل (hamśakl)

evil twin — see also evil twin,‎ alter ego

• Catalan: alter ego (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 邪惡分身 / 邪恶分身 (xié'è fēnshēn)

• Dutch: dubbelganger (nl) m, alter ego (nl) m
• Finnish: kaksoisolento (fi)
• French: jumeau maléfique m, alter ego (fr) m
• Italian: gemello malvagio m, alter ego (it) m

remarkably similar double

• Arabic: شَبِيه m (šabīh)
• Belarusian: двайні́к m (dvajník), двайні́ца f (dvajníca)
• Bulgarian: дво́йник (bg) m (dvójnik), дво́йничка f (dvójnička), дво́йница f (dvójnica)
• Catalan: sòsia m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 翻版 (zh) (fānbǎn)

• Czech: dvojník (cs) m, dvojníčka f
• Danish: dobbeltgænger c
• Dutch: dubbelganger (nl) m
• Esperanto: sozio
• Finnish: kaksoisolento (fi)
• French: sosie (fr) m
• German: Doppelgänger (de) m
• Greek: σωσίας (el) m (sosías)
• Hindi: हमशक्ल (hamśakla)
• Italian: sosia (it) m
• Macedonian: двојник m (dvojnik), двојничка f (dvojnička)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: dobbeltgjenger m

• Persian: همشکل (fa) (hamšakl)
• Polish: sobowtór (pl) m
• Portuguese: sósia (pt) m or f
• Punjabi: ਹਮਸ਼ਕਲ (hamśakal)
• Romanian: sosie (ro) f
• Russian: двойни́к (ru) m (dvojník), двойни́ца (ru) f (dvojníca)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: дво̑јнӣк m, дво̑јница f

  Roman: dvȏjnīk (sh) m, dvȏjnica f

• Slovak: dvojník m, dvojníčka f
• Slovene: dvojnik m, dvojnica f
• Spanish: sosias (es) m or f, sosia (es) m or f
• Swedish: dubbelgångare (sv) c
• Ukrainian: двійни́к (uk) m (dvijnýk), двійни́ця f (dvijnýcja)
• Urdu: ہمشکل (hamśakl)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Irish: ^{(please verify)} taise f

Further reading

• doppelganger on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• doppleganger

Portuguese

Alternative forms

• Doppelgänger

Noun

doppelganger m (plural doppelgangers)

1. (fantasy) doppelganger (ghostly double of a living person)