ghost town

American  

noun

ghost towns plural

1. a town permanently abandoned by its inhabitants, as because of a business decline or because a nearby mine has been worked out.

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ghost town British  

noun

1. a deserted town, esp one in the western US that was formerly a boom town

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ghost town Cultural  

1. A town, especially a boomtown in the old American West, that has been completely abandoned and deserted: “If you drive through the desert, you can still see the main street of Dry Gulch, a ghost town.”

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ghost town Idioms  

1. A once thriving town that has been completely abandoned, as in Many of the old mining communities are ghost towns now. This idiom implies that there are no living people left in town. [First half of 1900s]

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• ghost towns
  plural

Etymology

Origin of ghost town

First recorded in 1870–75

Example Sentences

In an interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal, LV Petroleum Chief Executive Kris Roach shared his plans for the state-line ghost town.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 1, 2026

Spirit Airlines’ demise earlier this month threatened to turn Atlantic City International Airport into a virtual ghost town.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 17, 2026

Wael el-Nahas, an economist, said the early closures had turned Cairo into a "ghost town", running counter to the city's distinct social character and threatening its vital tourism industry.

From Barron's • Apr. 28, 2026

It wouldn’t be fair to call it a ghost town now, exactly.

From Slate • Apr. 20, 2026

So today Centralia isn’t really even a ghost town.

From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson