Halloween Vocabulary: 20 Fun Words for English Learners
Learn 20 fun Halloween vocabulary words, from pumpkin to trick or treat, with simple meanings, example sentences and a little history. Perfect for A2–B1.
25 October 2026 · 5 min read
Halloween is almost here! On 31 October, people in many English-speaking countries carve pumpkins, dress up in costumes and share sweets with children. It is a fun, slightly spooky night, and it is also a great chance to learn new words. In this post you will learn 20 fun Halloween vocabulary words, each with a simple meaning and an example sentence.
Don’t worry: our Halloween is friendly, not frightening. Let’s begin!
A little Halloween history
The name Halloween comes from All Hallows’ Eve. “Hallow” is an old word for a saint, and “eve” means the evening before a special day. So Halloween is the evening before All Saints’ Day on 1 November.
Many of its traditions come from Samhain, an old Celtic festival in Ireland and Scotland that marked the end of summer. Long ago, people there carved faces into turnips, not pumpkins! Later, Irish and Scottish families took the tradition to America, where pumpkins were big, easy to carve and easy to find.
Halloween vocabulary: things you can see
1. Pumpkin
Meaning: a large, round, orange vegetable.
“We bought a huge pumpkin at the market.”
2. Jack-o’-lantern
Meaning: a pumpkin with a face cut into it and a candle or light inside.
“Our jack-o’-lantern has a big, happy smile.”
3. Costume
Meaning: special clothes you wear to look like someone or something else.
“My little brother’s costume is a dinosaur.”
4. Mask
Meaning: something you wear over your face to hide it or change how you look.
“She wore a cat mask to the party.”
5. Candy / sweets
Meaning: small sweet things like chocolate. Americans say candy; British people usually say sweets.
“The children came home with a bag full of sweets.”
6. Broomstick
Meaning: a brush with a long handle. In stories, witches fly on them.
“The witch jumped on her broomstick and flew over the moon.”
7. Cobweb
Meaning: a spider’s web, especially an old, dusty one.
“There are cobwebs in the corner of the old house.”
Halloween characters
8. Witch
Meaning: a woman in stories who can do magic, often with a tall black hat.
9. Ghost
Meaning: the spirit of a dead person that some people believe they can see.
10. Skeleton
Meaning: all the bones of a body together.
11. Bat
Meaning: a small animal that flies at night.
12. Black cat
Meaning: in old stories, a black cat is a witch’s friend. Some people think it brings bad luck, but in Britain many people think it brings good luck!
“A ghost, a witch and a skeleton knocked on our door. They were my neighbours’ children!”
Halloween verbs and phrases
13. Trick or treat
Meaning: the words children say at the door on Halloween. It means “Give us a treat, or we’ll play a trick on you!” This tradition became popular in the United States and Canada in the 20th century.
“Every year the kids go trick-or-treating in our street.”
14. Dress up
Meaning: to put on a costume. This is a phrasal verb. (Want more? Read our post on everyday phrasal verbs.)
“What are you going to dress up as this year?”
15. Carve
Meaning: to cut a shape into something hard, like wood or a pumpkin.
“Dad helped me carve the pumpkin.”
16. Haunted
Meaning: visited by ghosts (in stories!).
“People say the castle is haunted.”
Halloween adjectives: how does it feel?
17. Spooky
Meaning: a little strange and frightening, often in a fun way.
“The garden looks spooky at night.”
18. Creepy
Meaning: strange in a way that makes you feel uncomfortable.
“I don’t like spiders. They’re creepy!”
19. Scary
Meaning: making you feel afraid.
“That was a really scary film.”
20. Eerie
Meaning: strange, quiet and a little frightening. (Say it like “EAR-ee”.)
“The empty street was eerie in the fog.”
Tip: these four words are close, but not the same. Spooky is usually fun, scary is stronger, creepy feels unpleasant, and eerie is about a strange, quiet feeling.
Halloween idioms for a smile
English also has some fun “scary” idioms you can use all year:
- Scared to death: very, very frightened. “I was scared to death when the door opened!”
- Gave me goosebumps: made the little hairs on my arms stand up, from fear or from strong feeling. “That song gave me goosebumps.”
- A skeleton in the cupboard: a secret that someone is ashamed of. “Every family has a skeleton in the cupboard.”
Love idioms? You will enjoy our 12 happy English idioms, too.
Quick quiz
Choose the right word: costume, carve, spooky, sweets.
- “Let’s ______ a face into this pumpkin.”
- “I love your ______! Are you a pirate?”
- “The old house looks really ______ in the dark.”
- “Can I have some ______, please?”
Answers: 1. carve 2. costume 3. spooky 4. sweets
How to remember your Halloween vocabulary
New words stay longer when you use them. Try these simple ideas:
- Describe a picture. Find a Halloween photo and say five sentences about it.
- Make your own sentences. Write one sentence for each word about your life.
- Review tomorrow. Look at the list again tomorrow and next week. Our how to study page explains why short reviews work so well.
Learn more with true stories
Halloween words are fun, but the best way to remember vocabulary is to hear it in a story. Our free video lessons tell real, inspiring stories in clear, simple English for levels A1 to B2, with a transcript to read along. Watch a Bright Lives English lesson today and add even more bright new words to your list. Happy Halloween!
