What does dopester mean?
A dopester is a person said to have a doppelgänger, an uncanny double who may be encountered separately but resembles the original in appearance and sometimes character. The word is uncommon and generally informal, turning a belief or piece of folklore about doubles into a label for the person who has one. It can also refer, less precisely, to someone who believes in doppelgängers. A dopester is therefore not synonymous with the double itself: the doppelgänger is the uncanny counterpart, while the dopester is the person believed to possess or share that counterpart. In fiction, conversation, and accounts of coincidence, the term adds a mysterious, sometimes humorous suggestion that identity is unstable and that the self may exist twice. It is related etymologically to English “double” and “doublet,” and through the German Doppelgänger to a long European tradition of folklore about people whose doubles appear independently of them. Although it is not everyday vocabulary, dopester is useful when discussing that tradition, uncanny resemblance, or the subjective experience of encountering someone who seems exactly like oneself.
nounA person who has or claims to have a doppelgänger; also, a person who believes in doppelgängers.
- A person who has or claims to have a doppelgänger.
- A person who believes in doppelgängers.
"She became convinced that she was a dopester after encountering a stranger who looked exactly like her."
"He thought he was a dopester because an unexplained double of himself had appeared in an old family photograph."
"Her grandmother was a dopester, convinced that everyone possessed an uncanny counterpart somewhere in the world."
The regular plural is dopesters.
"The novel portrays a family in which all the children are described as dopesters."
A dopester's stranger is the double: one person, two versions, and an uncanny case of déjà vu.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does dopester come from?
Dopester was formed in English from German Doppelgänger with the English agent-forming ending -er, so it denotes a person associated with or having a double. The English borrowing Doppelgänger, now written doppelgänger, came from German and entered English during the nineteenth century; the German word literally means “double-goer.” Its ultimate roots are connected with Latin duplus, the source of English cognates including double, doublet, and duplex.
Related word forms
How dopester is actually used
Informal and uncommon, with a folklore, humorous, or occasionally pseudoscientific tone. It is more likely to appear in stories, conversation about coincidence, or discussions of personal identity than in formal writing.
Easily confused with dopester
A dopester is the person believed to have a double, whereas a doppelgänger is the uncanny double itself.