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Glite Dictionary
👻 A small monster 😈 A morbid person
ghoulie

ghoulie

1 9.5
A small, playful monster or ghost used with children
  • noun
  • /ˈɡuːli/
  • Baby Talk
translation icon : fantasmita
  • She told a spooky story about a little ghoulie that lived in the dark woods.

Examples

  • Oh, the old sexorcist here thinks I stole his precious little ghoulie book.

    Night of the Demons 2 (1994)

  • The children were excited to meet the friendly ghoulie at the Halloween party.

  • During the sleepover, they dressed up as their favorite ghoulies from the movie.

Synonyms

goblin
vsghoulie
  • Literature
105 8.3

A small, ugly creature that causes trouble for people

is more playful and used with children rather than being folklore troublemaker
boogeyman
vsghoulie
  • Baby Talk
34 8.1

An imaginary monster adults mention to scare children into behaving

is child-friendly and playful rather than meant to scare or discipline
ghoul
vsghoulie
  • NSFW
31 9.3

An evil spirit that haunts graveyards and eats dead bodies

is a harmless playful term not a violent or graveyard spirit
ghast
vsghoulie
  • Archaic
1 9.9

A frightening ghost that appears at night

is informal and child-focused rather than archaic serious apparition
boogum
vsghoulie
  • Baby Talk
9.9

A pretend monster children imagine hiding in places like closets

is an informal child-friendly term for small spooky creatures

Surface Forms

ghoulie singular
ghoulies plural

Morphology

ghoulie = ghoul (transparent) = ghoul + ie

The word is a clear diminutive/informal formation from 'ghoul' using the familiar suffix '-ie', producing a small or playful creature sense.

Etymology

Ghoulie comes from ghoul, which comes from Arabic ghul meaning 'demon' or 'monster', plus the English friendly ending -ie that makes a word small or cute, as in 'doggie', so a ghoulie is a little, playful ghost or spooky creature used with children.