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ghost

noun

the soul of a dead person, a disembodied spirit imagined, usually as a vague, shadowy or evanescent form, as wandering among or haunting living persons.
Synonyms: spook, shade, revenant, wraith, phantasm, phantom, apparition
a mere shadow or semblance; a trace:
He's a ghost of his former self.
He hasn't a ghost of a chance.
(sometimes initial capital letter) a spiritual being.
a secondary image, especially one appearing on a television screen as a white shadow, caused by poor or double reception or by a defect in the receiver.
Also called
ghost im·age [
gohst, im-ij
]
.
Photography. a faint secondary or out-of-focus image in a photographic print or negative resulting from reflections within the camera lens.
an oral word game in which each player in rotation adds a letter to those supplied by preceding players, the object being to avoid ending a word.
Optics. a series of false spectral lines produced by a diffraction grating with unevenly spaced lines.
Metalworking. a streak appearing on a freshly machined piece of steel containing impurities.
a red blood cell having no hemoglobin.
a fictitious employee, business, etc., fabricated especially for the purpose of manipulating funds or avoiding taxes:
Investigation showed a payroll full of ghosts.

verb (used with object)

to ghostwrite (a book, speech, etc.).
Engraving. to lighten the background of (a photograph) before engraving.
1. to suddenly end all contact with (a person) without explanation, especially in a romantic relationship:
  The guy I’ve been dating ghosted me.
2. to leave (a social event or gathering) suddenly without saying goodbye:
  My friend ghosted my birthday party.
Digital Technology. to remove (comments, threads, or other digital content) from a website or online forum without informing the poster, keeping them hidden from the public but still visible to the poster.

verb (used without object)

to go about or move like a ghost.
(of a sailing vessel) to move when there is no perceptible wind.
to pay people for work not performed, especially as a way of manipulating funds.
1. to suddenly end all contact with a person without explanation, especially in a romantic relationship:
  They dated for a month and then she ghosted.
2. to leave a social event or gathering suddenly without saying goodbye:
  I'm getting tired so I think I might just ghost.
Digital Technology. to remove comments, threads, or other digital content from a website or online forum without informing the poster, keeping them hidden from the public but still visible to the poster.

adjective

fabricated for purposes of deception or fraud:
We were making contributions to a ghost company.

/ ɡəʊst /

noun

the disembodied spirit of a dead person, supposed to haunt the living as a pale or shadowy vision; phantom
spectral
the ghost of his former life rose up before him
a faint trace or possibility of something; glimmer
a ghost of a smile
the spirit; soul (archaic, except in the phrase the Holy Ghost )
1. a faint secondary image produced by an optical system
2. a similar image on a television screen, formed by reflection of the transmitting waves or by a defect in the receiver
Also calledghost edition
an entry recorded in a bibliography of which no actual proof exists
modifier falsely recorded as doing a particular job or fulfilling a particular function in order that some benefit, esp money, may be obtained
a ghost worker
give up the ghost
1. to die
2. (of a machine) to stop working

verb

intr to move effortlessly and smoothly, esp unnoticed
he ghosted into the penalty area

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Derived Forms

ˈghostˌlike, adjective

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Other Word Forms

ghost·i·ly adverb
ghost·like adjective
de·ghost verb (used with object)
un·ghost·like adjective

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Word History and Origins

Origin of ghost1

First recorded

before 900; Middle English goost (noun), Old English gāst; cognate with German Geist spirit

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Word History and Origins

Origin of ghost1

Old English gāst; related to Old Frisian jēst, Old High German geist spirit, Sanskrit hēda fury, anger

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Synonym Study

Ghost,

specter,

spirit

all refer to the disembodied soul of a person. A

ghost

is the soul or spirit of a deceased person, which appears or otherwise makes its presence known to the living:

the ghost of a drowned child.

specter

is a ghost or apparition of more or less weird, unearthly, or terrifying aspect:

a frightening specter.

Spirit

is often interchangeable with

ghost

but may mean a supernatural being, usually with an indication of good or malign intent toward human beings:

the spirit of a friend; an evil spirit.

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Despite their dreariness as a couple, Janet does come armed with a stare so blank it looks like she saw a ghost and never recovered.

"Gaza has become a city of ghosts," he said, glancing over his shoulder.

A ghost–like downtown skyline rises through the smog Monday afternoon as seen from the Mulholland Scenic Corridor overlook above the Hollywood Bowl in 1995.

Bass is seeking the elimination of more than 1,000 unfilled “ghost” positions.

Hell, even with all his money, Musk is finding it hard to get women to acquiesce to his abusive behavior, which is why his longed-for "compound" sounds like it will be a ghost town.

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023