ghost town

American  

noun

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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Etymology

Origin of ghost town

First recorded in 1870–75

Example Sentences

Economics student Mohammed Olayinka said the campus was "a bit of a ghost town", adding some thought it best to stay, but others "panicked and left".

From BBC • Mar. 18, 2026

In recent months, that office has become a ghost town.

From Barron's • Feb. 9, 2026

The city was otherwise a ghost town, with many local businesses closed for the day in sympathy.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 26, 2026

“The Palisades became a ghost town in the wake of the fire,” Smolinisky wrote.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 11, 2025

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

From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson