ghost

[gohst]

noun

1. 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

2. a mere shadow or semblance; a trace.

   He's a ghost of his former self.

3. a remote possibility.

   He hasn't a ghost of a chance.

4. (sometimes initial capital letter),  a spiritual being.

5. the principle of life; soul; spirit.

6. Informal.,  ghostwriter.

7. 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.

8. Also called ghost image. Photography.,  a faint secondary or out-of-focus image in a photographic print or negative resulting from reflections within the camera lens.

9. 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.

10. Optics.,  a series of false spectral lines produced by a diffraction grating with unevenly spaced lines.

11. Metalworking.,  a streak appearing on a freshly machined piece of steel containing impurities.

12. a red blood cell having no hemoglobin.

13. 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)

1. to ghostwrite (a book, speech, etc.).

2. to haunt.

3. Engraving.,  to lighten the background of (a photograph) before engraving.

4. Informal.

   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.

5. 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)

1. to ghostwrite.

2. to go about or move like a ghost.

3. (of a sailing vessel) to move when there is no perceptible wind.

4. to pay people for work not performed, especially as a way of manipulating funds.

5. Informal.

   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.

6. 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

1. fabricated for purposes of deception or fraud.

   We were making contributions to a ghost company.

ghost

/ ɡəʊst /

noun

1. the disembodied spirit of a dead person, supposed to haunt the living as a pale or shadowy vision; phantom

2. a haunting memory

   the ghost of his former life rose up before him

3. a faint trace or possibility of something; glimmer

   a ghost of a smile

4. the spirit; soul (archaic, except in the phrase the Holy Ghost )

5. physics

   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

6. See ghost word

7. Also called: ghost edition. an entry recorded in a bibliography of which no actual proof exists

8. Another name for ghostwriter See ghostwrite

9. (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

10. 1. to die

    2. (of a machine) to stop working

verb

1. See ghostwrite

2. (tr) to haunt

3. (intr) to move effortlessly and smoothly, esp unnoticed

   he ghosted into the penalty area

Other Word Forms

• ghostily adverb
• ghostlike adjective
• deghost verb (used with object)
• unghostlike adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of ghost¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of ghost¹

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

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. give up the ghost,

   1. to die.

   2. to cease to function or exist.

More idioms and phrases containing ghost

• Chinaman's (ghost of a) chance
• give up the ghost

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. A 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.

Example Sentences

Garfield is all galling charisma and Edebiri is in some pallid register, like a Victorian ghost that you’re not sure whether to fear.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Prompted by Fallon, the co-writer of “Golden” shared that while recording her part of the song at the studio, she saw a brief glimpse of “a grunge ghost.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The film, to be released nationwide on Friday by Neon, plays less like a documentary than a séance in which Orwell’s ghost watches his own warnings play out: urgent, relentless, immersive as a nightmare.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Now subtract a significant number of historical factoids and add in some real ghosts — or at least a few tricks of the light and convincing actors.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Yet the ghost of Liz Truss lingers: despite their best efforts to politely disown her, the Conservatives' opponents will probably never lose their appetite for reminding voters of the calamity of her brief premiership.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• demon 
• devil 
• phantom 
• shadow 
• soul 
• specter 
• vampire 
• vision