Haunt in Spanish Definition | Meanings, Uses And Nuance

In Spanish, haunt as a verb often translates as perseguir, referring to thoughts, memories, or places that stay with someone.

English speakers use haunt for ghosts, nagging thoughts, and even favorite hangouts, so a single Spanish translation never works for every line. When you look for a clear haunt meaning in Spanish, you need to match each sense with a different verb or phrase. Once you see how these patterns line up, choosing the right Spanish option feels far more natural in real conversations and writing.

This guide walks through the main meanings of haunt in English, then matches each sense with common Spanish verbs such as perseguir, obsesionar, rondar, frecuentar, and aparecerse. You will see plenty of example sentences, plus a couple of quick-reference tables so you can compare options at a glance.

Why Haunt Feels Tricky To Translate Into Spanish

At first glance, dictionaries often list several Spanish verbs for haunt, which can feel confusing. One source might lead with obsesionar, another with perseguir, and yet another with rondar or frecuentar. All of them are correct, but each one covers a slightly different slice of meaning.

In English, haunt covers at least three main ideas:

• A ghost or spirit that appears in a place: “The castle is haunted.”
• A feeling, thought, or memory that does not go away: “That mistake still haunts me.”
• A place someone visits again and again: “This café is our usual haunt.”

Spanish splits these uses between several verbs and nouns, so you choose based on context. The line “The memory haunts him” needs one verb, while “The ghost haunts the house” needs another, and a “favorite haunt” uses a noun like sitio habitual or lugar favorito.

What Does Haunt Mean In Everyday English?

Before matching Spanish verbs, it helps to break down the main English senses. Here are the most common patterns learners meet in books, films, and everyday speech:

• Ghost sense: A spirit that keeps appearing in a place. “A ghost haunts the old theater.”
• Mental sense: A memory, image, or fear that stays in someone’s mind. “The accident still haunts her.”
• Regret or guilt: Past actions that keep coming back in someone’s thoughts. “His decision haunted him for years.”
• Favorite place: A bar, café, or street someone goes to again and again. “That bar used to be our haunt.”
• Regular presence: Someone who is often found in a place. “Writers haunt that bookshop.”

Each sense links to a slightly different Spanish structure. Once you match these patterns, you move beyond a single-word translation and reach natural Spanish phrasing that sounds native-like in context.

Haunt In Spanish Definition And Main Verb Choices

When people search for a clear haunt in Spanish definition, they usually want a single term. In real usage, you pick from several verbs depending on what exactly “haunts” what. Large bilingual sources such as the Cambridge English–Spanish Dictionary entry for haunt list options like obsesionar, perseguir, rondar, and frecuentar, which line up with the senses already described.

Here are the core verbs you will see again and again:

• Perseguir: to pursue or “follow” someone physically or mentally.
• Obsesionar: to obsess, often used when something stays in someone’s mind.
• Rondar: to hover or hang around a place or a person.
• Frecuentar: to visit a place regularly.
• Aparecerse: to appear, especially for ghosts or apparitions.

Perseguir For Thoughts And Memories

Perseguir works well when a thought, memory, or feeling follows someone around. The Diccionario de la lengua española entry for perseguir includes both physical pursuit and figurative chasing, which fits this sense of haunt. In English you might say “The memory haunts him,” while Spanish uses “Lo persigue ese recuerdo.”

Sample lines:

• English: The image of the accident still haunts him.
• Spanish: La imagen del accidente todavía lo persigue.

Here the memory acts almost like a hunter that never leaves the person alone, which matches the figurative strength of perseguir.

Obsesionar For Ongoing Mental Fixation

Obsesionar suits cases where a thought or idea turns into an obsession. The verb appears in monolingual references such as the RAE definition of obsesionar and regional works like the Diccionario del español de México entry for obsesionar, both showing how it relates to long-lasting, intrusive ideas.

Sample lines:

• English: That question haunts me every night.
• Spanish: Esa pregunta me obsesiona todas las noches.

In mental-health writing, you may also see the reflexive form obsesionarse, which adds a sense of the person falling into that state: “Él se obsesiona con ese recuerdo.”

Rondar When Something Hangs Around

Rondar expresses an idea or person that lingers nearby. It can describe a thought circling in someone’s head or a person hanging around a place. Bilingual resources such as Reverso’s English–Spanish entry for haunt pair the mental sense of haunt with both obsesionar and rondar.

Sample lines:

• English: That possibility haunts her mind.
• Spanish: Esa posibilidad le ronda la cabeza.

This verb gives a slightly softer feel than perseguir or obsesionar. It suggests something that stays nearby rather than something that attacks from inside.

Frecuentar For Places You Visit Often

When haunt refers to a place someone visits again and again, Spanish switches to frecuentar or simply uses ir mucho a. The English idea “a favorite haunt” often becomes “un lugar que frecuentas” or “un sitio habitual”.

Sample lines:

• English: We used to haunt that little bookshop.
• Spanish: Antes solíamos frecuentar esa librería pequeña.

In this sense, the word has nothing to do with ghosts or regrets; it only shows habit and preference.

Aparecerse And Other Ghost Verbs

For haunted houses and ghost stories, Spanish often describes the action more directly. Instead of saying a ghost “haunts” the house, you will see verbs such as aparecerse, rondar, or habitar.

• English: The ghost haunts the old mansion.
• Spanish: El fantasma se aparece en la vieja mansión.

You might also read “Un fantasma ronda la casa” or “La casa está habitada por un fantasma,” each with a slightly different flavor but all fitting the ghost sense of haunt.

Summary Table Of Haunt Meanings And Spanish Equivalents

The next table brings together the main senses of haunt and links them to common Spanish choices with a short example for each line.

English Sense	Typical Spanish Choice	Short Example
Mental image that will not leave	Perseguir	El recuerdo del accidente lo persigue.
Obsession with a thought or idea	Obsesionar / obsesionarse	Esa idea la obsesiona.
Thought that lingers in the mind	Rondar	La duda le ronda la cabeza.
Ghost that appears in a place	Aparecerse / rondar	Un espíritu se aparece en el castillo.
Place visited regularly	Frecuentar	Frecuentaban ese bar de jazz.
Usual hangout or “haunt”	Sitio habitual, lugar favorito	Esa cafetería era su sitio habitual.
Past action that brings regret	Perseguir / atormentar	Su decisión lo atormenta todavía.

Haunt As A Favorite Place Or Hangout

Many learners only think of haunted houses and sad memories, but English also uses haunt as a noun for a favorite place. A “seaside haunt” or “old haunt” simply means a spot where someone spends a lot of time.

Spanish handles this idea with nouns rather than a direct version of haunt:

• sitio habitual – usual place
• lugar favorito – favorite place
• lugar de reunión – common meeting spot

Sample pairings:

• English: That café used to be our favorite haunt.
• Spanish: Esa cafetería solía ser nuestro lugar favorito.

For a more informal tone, speakers also use phrases like “nuestro sitio de siempre” or “nuestro bar de siempre,” which capture that warm, regular-visit feeling without any hint of ghosts.

Ghost Stories And Haunted Houses In Spanish

When novels or films describe haunted buildings, they rarely rely on a single verb. Spanish writers often choose expressions that describe what the ghost does rather than copying the English word haunt.

Common ways to describe this idea include:

• La casa está encantada. – The house is haunted.
• Un fantasma se aparece en el pasillo. – A ghost appears in the hallway.
• Dicen que las almas en pena rondan el castillo. – They say lost souls move around the castle.

Notice that encantado does a lot of work here. The house itself is “enchanted” or “haunted,” and speakers often describe the ghost’s behavior with aparecerse or rondar. If you translate a horror novel, you will likely move back and forth between these patterns rather than repeat a single verb over and over.

How Dictionaries Treat Haunt In Spanish

To check your intuition, it helps to see how major references present the word. Bilingual tools such as SpanishDict’s entry for haunt list a range of translations along with sentence-level examples. Learners can see how each verb lines up with a specific context, from ghosts to nagging thoughts.

Specialized English–Spanish works like the Collins English–Spanish Dictionary entry for haunt and large sites such as Linguee’s corpus of haunt translations also show real-life usage. By reading several sentences in context, you get a clearer sense of when native speakers pick perseguir, when they prefer obsesionar, and when they change structure completely to keep the Spanish line natural.

Quick Reference: Choosing A Verb For Haunt In Context

The second table gives a fast reference for common situations where English uses haunt and suggests natural Spanish equivalents.

Situation	Suggested Spanish Option	Model Sentence
Bad memory that will not fade	Perseguir	Ese recuerdo lo persigue desde niño.
Idea that turns into an obsession	Obsesionar	La idea del fracaso la obsesiona.
Worry that circles in the mind	Rondar	Esa preocupación le ronda la cabeza.
Haunted house in a story	Estar encantado / aparecerse	Dicen que la casa está encantada.
Favorite bar or café	Frecuentar, sitio habitual	Ese bar de la esquina era su sitio habitual.
Person often seen in one place	Siempre está en…	Siempre está en la biblioteca del barrio.

Common English Lines With Haunt And Their Spanish Counterparts

Here are several everyday English lines that use haunt, paired with natural Spanish versions. This section helps you see patterns in action.

• “That melody haunts me.”
  Esa melodía me persigue. / Esa melodía me obsesiona.
• “Her words still haunt him.”
  Sus palabras todavía lo persiguen.
• “The ghost of his past haunts him.”
  El fantasma de su pasado lo atormenta.
• “We used to haunt that little bar.”
  Solíamos frecuentar ese bar pequeño.
• “The old theater is haunted.”
  El viejo teatro está encantado.
• “That question haunts my dreams.”
  Esa pregunta aparece en mis sueños una y otra vez.

Notice how Spanish often rewrites the line rather than chasing a word-for-word match. Sometimes the best choice is a different verb; other times it is a noun phrase or a more descriptive clause that matches the tone of the original sentence.

Tips To Pick The Right Spanish Option For Haunt

When you bump into haunt while reading or translating, a short decision process makes life easier. Instead of tying yourself to one default verb, run through a few quick checks.

Step 1: Ask What Kind Of Thing Is Doing The Haunting

If the subject is a ghost or spirit, you will lean toward aparecerse, rondar, or structures with estar encantado. If the subject is a memory, image, or feeling, perseguir, obsesionar, atormentar, or rondar fit better.

Step 2: Check Whether The Line Is About The Mind Or A Place

Mental lines use verbs related to thoughts and feelings, while place-based lines use frecuentar, “ir mucho a…”, or simple noun phrases like sitio habitual. If the sentence mentions a bar, café, or park, it probably belongs to the place group.

Step 3: Match Intensity

Obsesionar and atormentar feel stronger than rondar. If the English line sounds dramatic or heavy, you can lean toward those stronger verbs. If the line feels light or reflective, rondar or a softer paraphrase often suits better.

Step 4: Read The Sentence Out Loud In Spanish

Once you have a draft translation, say it out loud. Native-style Spanish often uses simple, concrete verbs instead of repeating the same figurative one. If your line sounds stiff, try changing the structure: “Esa idea no lo deja en paz,” or “Ese recuerdo siempre vuelve.” The meaning of haunt stays intact, even if the verb itself never appears.