How to say “ghost” in 37 different languages
Every one of these is a word that turns up in ordinary speech, not a dictionary curiosity — the number beside it is where it ranks in that language.
- fantasma/fanˈtasma/ Spanish
- 鬼魂/ku̯eɪ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ xu̯ən³⁵/ Chinese
- भूत/bʱuːt̪/ Hindi
- φάντασμα/ˈfan.da.zma/ Greek
- רפאים/ʁfaˈʔim/ Hebrew
- ուրու/uˈɾu/ Armenian
“ghost” in Spanish: fantasma · French: fantôme · Italian: fantasma · Portuguese: fantasma · Chinese: 鬼魂 · Hindi: भूत · Turkish: hayalet · Greek: φάντασμα
It is commonest in Slovenian, where duh is the 477th most used word.
Ghost in other languages, A to Z
- Afrikaans spook/spʊə̯k/ ghost, phantom #969
- Albanian fantazmë/fantazmə/ #1,691
- Arabic روح/ruːħ/ spirit, ghost #831
- Armenian ուրու/uˈɾu/ #1,244
- Basque mamu/ˈmamu/ #953
- Bengali ভূত/bʱut̪/ ghost, apparition, spirit #1,211
- Bosnian duh/dûx/ ghost, spirit #993
- Bulgarian дух[dux] #1,165
- Catalan fantasma[fənˈtaz.mə] ghost, phantom #1,764
- Chinese 鬼魂/ku̯eɪ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ xu̯ən³⁵/ ghost; wraith #1,152
- Croatian duh/dûx/ ghost, spirit #975
- Danish spøgelse/ˈspøːɣəlsə/ #2,209
- Dutch geest/ɣeːst/ ghost, spirit, immaterial being #838
- French fantôme/fɑ̃.tom/ #1,758
- Georgian სული[suli] spirit, ghost #728
- Greek φάντασμα/ˈfan.da.zma/ ghost, phantasm, phantom, spectre, specter #1,418
- Hebrew רפאים/ʁfaˈʔim/ #1,516
- Hindi भूत/bʱuːt̪/ ghost, spirit #1,009
- Icelandic draugur[ˈtrœiːɣʏr] #1,931
- Indonesian hantu/ˈhantu/ #686
- Italian fantasma/fanˈtaz.ma/ ghost, spectre #1,786
- Korean 유령[juɾjʌ̹ŋ] apparition; ghost #1,164
- Lithuanian vaiduoklis[ʋɐɪ²ˈduɔklʲɪs] ghost, apparition #1,450
- Macedonian дух[dux] #657
- Malay puntianak/punˈtianak/ A female vampiric ghost, said to be the… #1,414
- Malayalam പ്രേതം/preːd̪ɐm/ #854
- Polish ducha/ˈdu.xa/ #2,040
- Portuguese fantasma/fɐ̃ˈtaz.mɐ/ #1,716
- Romanian spiritul/ˈspiɾitul/ spirit, ghost #1,810
- Serbian duh/dûx/ ghost, spirit #911
- Slovenian duh/dúːx/ #477
- Spanish fantasma/fanˈtasma/ ghost, phantom, wraith #1,787
- Tagalog multo/mulˈto/ ghost; specter #2,482
- Tamil பேய்/peːj/ ghost, demon, fiend #595
- Turkish hayalet/ha.jaˈlet/ #1,185
- Ukrainian привид[ˈprɪʋed] ghost, spirit, phantom, spectre, apparition,… #2,432
- Vietnamese ma[maː˧˧] #538
The speaker reads the word in the voice the LangX app uses for that language — synthesised, not a recording of a native speaker, so treat it as a guide. A row without a button has no reading we are free to use, or none we trust, yet. Voices for Bengali (google (bn_BD), CC BY-SA 4.0), Catalan (upc_ona (ca_ES), CC BY-SA 4.0), Slovenian (artur (sl_SI), CC BY 4.0) and Vietnamese (vais1000 (vi_VN), CC BY 4.0).
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.