doppelgänger
noun
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According to German folklore, all living creatures have an identical, but invisible, spirit double. These second selves are distinct from ghosts, which appear only after death, and are sometimes described as the spiritual opposite or negative of their living counterparts. English speakers borrowed both the concept of the doppelgänger and the German word for it (from doppel-, meaning “double,” and -gänger, meaning “goer”) in the mid-1800s, but today the English word typically has a more quotidian use, referring simply to a living person who closely resembles another living person.
Examples of doppelgänger in a Sentence
Jacqui Palumbo, CNN Money, 18 Dec. 2025
But the American turkeys began to eclipse the popularity of their African doppelgangers, Smith writes.
—Natalie Escobar, NPR, 26 Nov. 2025
Always Greener, which scored 15 nominations on the annual Brit List, is a high concept script that follows a struggling artist, haunted by past failure, who is given a one-in-a-million chance to become his rich and successful doppelganger from a parallel universe.
—Max Goldbart, Deadline, 5 Nov. 2025
One time, Johnson even almost made off with his doppelganger’s car at a local Nashville airport.
—Joseph Hudak, Rolling Stone, 30 Oct. 2025
The cooks are not the only doppelgangers.
—Kayti Burt, Time, 29 Sep. 2025
When her mother leaves the room for a moment, she's accosted by a demonic entity that toys with her through funhouse-style reflections, creating this evil doppelganger of Judy.
—Nick Romano, Entertainment Weekly, 7 Sep. 2025
What follows is a little like a black-comedy riff on a scene from Breaking Bad or Dexter as the duo chop up the corpse of the Peacemaker doppelganger to cover up the accidental killing.
—Scott Meslow, Vulture, 29 Aug. 2025
After bringing out droves of doppelgangers for Adam Sandler, Jeremy Allen White and Timothée Chalamet, New York City has proven to be the right destination for celebrity look-alike contests.
—Karu F. Daniels, New York Daily News, 21 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Doppelgänger.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/doppelg%C3%A4nger. Accessed 6 Jan. 2026.
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