Seasons and holidays

Halloween vocabulary word list for learners

This list gathers everyday Halloween vocabulary useful for ESL classrooms, elementary lessons, and October read-alouds. It covers common nouns and adjectives tied to costumes, decorations, and traditions that learners are likely to encounter around the holiday.

Practice these words ↗Take a quiz

Halloween vocabulary word list for learners

Word	Meaning	In a sentence
Halloweenproper noun	An annual holiday on October 31 associated with costumes, trick-or-treating, and spooky imagery, rooted in ancient harvest and All Hallows' Eve traditions.	The kids dressed up as pirates and went trick-or-treating on Halloween.
pumpkinnoun	A large, round vegetable with thick orange skin and flesh, grown on a vine and often used in pies.	Every October, the family carves a pumpkin into a grinning jack-o'-lantern for Halloween.
jack-o'-lanternnoun	A carved pumpkin or turnip with a face, often lit from inside, used as a Halloween decoration.	The children carved a grinning jack-o'-lantern and set it on the porch steps.
costumenoun	An outfit worn to represent a particular character, culture, era, or occasion, often for performance or celebration.	She wore a homemade witch costume for the neighborhood Halloween party.
candynoun	A sweet food made mainly from sugar, often eaten as a treat or snack.	The children traded pieces of candy from their trick-or-treat bags.
trick or treatphrase	A Halloween custom in which children go door to door asking for candy, often threatening a harmless trick otherwise.	Every October 31st, kids in costumes go trick-or-treating around the neighborhood.
ghostnoun	The spirit of a dead person, believed by some to appear to or haunt the living.	The children swore they saw a ghost drifting through the halls of the abandoned house.
witchnoun	In folklore and fiction, a person, usually a woman, believed to have magical powers, often used for harmful purposes.	In the old fairy tale, the witch lured children into her cottage in the forest.
broomsticknoun	The long, slender handle of a broom, often mentioned in folklore as what witches fly on.	In the story, the witch soared over the rooftops on her broomstick.
spidernoun	A small eight-legged creature, most kinds of which spin silk webs to catch insects for food.	A spider had spun an intricate web across the corner of the porch overnight.
spiderwebnoun	A network of fine silk threads that a spider spins to trap insects.	Dew clung to the spiderweb strung between two branches, making it sparkle.
skeletonnoun	The internal framework of bones that supports and protects the body of a vertebrate.	The museum displayed a full dinosaur skeleton in the main hall.
cauldronnoun	A large, deep metal pot used for boiling liquids, especially over an open fire.	The witch in the story stirred a bubbling cauldron of green potion.
batnoun	A flying mammal that is active at night and often navigates using sound.	A colony of bats emerged from the cave at dusk to hunt insects.
hauntedadjective	Believed to be regularly visited by ghosts, or deeply and persistently troubled by a memory or fear.	Local teenagers dared each other to spend a night in the haunted mansion on the hill.
graveyardnoun	A piece of ground, often next to a church, where dead people are buried.	Fog drifted between the old headstones in the quiet graveyard.
cobwebnoun	A fine, sticky network of threads spun by a spider to catch insects.	A thick cobweb stretched across the corner of the abandoned barn.
masknoun	A covering worn over the face to disguise, protect, or hide one's identity or expression.	Doctors wear masks in the operating room to prevent infection.
capenoun	A sleeveless outer garment that hangs loosely from the shoulders over the back.	The superhero costume included a bright red cape and matching boots.
monsternoun	A frightening imaginary creature, or a person who behaves with great cruelty.	The children imagined a monster hiding under the bed at night.
vampirenoun	A mythical being that rises from the dead at night to drink the blood of living people.	In the film, a vampire could only be destroyed by sunlight or a wooden stake.
werewolfnoun	A mythical person who can transform into a wolf, typically under a full moon.	In the story, the farmer discovers his neighbor is secretly a werewolf.
goblinnoun	A small, mischievous, and often ugly imaginary creature found in folklore and fantasy stories.	In the story, a goblin guarded the treasure hidden deep in the cave.
lanternnoun	A portable case, often with glass sides, that holds and protects a light source such as a candle or bulb.	We hung a lantern on the porch to guide guests up the dark path.
spookyadjective	Causing a feeling of fear or unease, especially in an eerie, supernatural way.	The abandoned house looked spooky in the moonlight, with its broken windows and creaking door.
scarecrownoun	A human-shaped figure set up in a field to frighten birds away from crops.	The farmer dressed the scarecrow in an old coat and hat to guard the cornfield.
candlenoun	A stick of wax with a wick through the center, burned to produce light.	She lit a candle on the dinner table to create a warm, cozy atmosphere.
mischiefnoun	Playful behavior that causes minor trouble, annoyance, or harm without serious intent.	The twins were always up to mischief when left alone for too long.
disguisenoun	A costume, alteration, or pretense used to hide one's true identity or appearance.	The spy wore a disguise to slip past the checkpoint unnoticed.
harvestnoun	The gathering of ripe crops, or the amount of crops gathered in a season.	Farmers worked long hours to bring in the wheat harvest before the rain.

Frequently asked questions

What are common Halloween vocabulary words?

Common Halloween vocabulary includes words like pumpkin, costume, trick-or-treat, ghost, and witch, which describe the holiday's traditions, characters, and decorations.