According to German folklore, all living creatures have a spirit double who is invisible but identical to the living individual. These second selves are perceived as being distinct from ghosts (which appear only after death), and sometimes they are described as the spiritual opposite or negative of their human counterparts. German writers coined the word Doppelgänger (from doppel-, meaning "double," and -gänger, meaning "goer") to refer to such specters.
In the story, the character is haunted by a doppelgänger. at the mall today I saw someone who could be your doppelgänger
Recent Examples on the WebAs the shoot took place in LA, Reichwald cast surfer West Adler, who turned out to be his doppelganger. Laird Borrelli-persson, Vogue, 8 Aug. 2022 For him, the arrival of a doppelganger who literally knows where all the bodies are buried is a particularly alarming development.Washington Post, 30 Nov. 2021 The salted cream cold foam is a doppelganger for the sleeper hit of boba shops, cheese tea. Serena Dai, Bon Appétit, 13 July 2022 In it, Moss' character moves with her family to a new house... where a doppelganger lives in the attic. Alesandra Dubin, Good Housekeeping, 30 June 2022 The second character, cousin Colton, is Constance’s doppelganger and a Gen-Z, TikTok-loving, crypto enthusiast counterpart from New York, who now lives in between his cousin Constance’s mansions and his own pad in Beverly Hills. Gustaf Lundberg Toresson, Forbes, 22 May 2022 Jon-El sees his doppelganger and tries to take him down while Jordan tries to step in and mediate.Washington Post, 3 May 2022 All the matches are striking in their way, but there’s something especially doppelganger-y about Nélisse and Lynskey.Washington Post, 17 Jan. 2022 The Knot, with 86% of 5,000 respondents in the US preferring them as engagement rings' center stone, and diamond doppelganger moissanite the next most popular option. Jacqui Palumbo, CNN, 20 Dec. 2021 See More
Word History
Etymology
German Doppelgänger, from doppel- double + -gänger goer