1.
[syn: haunting, persistent]
2. having a deeply disquieting or disturbing effect;
- Example: "from two handsome and talented young men to two haunting horrors of disintegration"-Charles Lee
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Haunt \Haunt\ (h[aum]nt; 277), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Haunted; p.
pr. & vb. n. Haunting.] [F. hanter; of uncertain origin,
perh. from an assumed LL. ambitare to go about, fr. L. ambire
(see Ambition); or cf. Icel. heimta to demand, regain, akin
to heim home (see Home). [root]36.]
1. To frequent; to resort to frequently; to visit
pertinaciously or intrusively; to intrude upon.
[1913 Webster]
You wrong me, sir, thus still to haunt my house.
--Shak.
[1913 Webster]
Those cares that haunt the court and town. --Swift.
[1913 Webster]
2. To inhabit or frequent as a specter; to visit as a ghost
or apparition; -- said of spirits or ghosts, especially of
dead people; as, the murdered man haunts the house where
he died.
[1913 Webster]
Foul spirits haunt my resting place. --Fairfax.
[1913 Webster]
3. To practice; to devote one's self to. [Obs.]
[1913 Webster]
That other merchandise that men haunt with fraud . .
. is cursed. --Chaucer.
[1913 Webster]
Leave honest pleasure, and haunt no good pastime.
--Ascham.
[1913 Webster]
4. To accustom; to habituate. [Obs.]
[1913 Webster]
Haunt thyself to pity. --Wyclif.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
haunting
adj 1: continually recurring to the mind; "haunting memories";
"the cathedral organ and the distant voices have a
haunting beauty"- Claudia Cassidy [syn: haunting,
persistent]
2: having a deeply disquieting or disturbing effect; "from two
handsome and talented young men to two haunting horrors of
disintegration"-Charles Lee
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
19 Moby Thesaurus words for "haunting":
continuous, cyclical, ever-recurring, frequent, incessant,
indelible, nagging, obsessive, periodic, persistent, reappearing,
recurrent, recurring, returning, revenant, thematic, thick-coming,
ubiquitous, unforgettable