ghostwrite
Americanverb (used with or without object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of ghostwrite
First recorded in 1925–30; back formation from ghostwriter
Explanation
To ghostwrite something is to pen a book, speech, play, or any other work that will be published under someone else's name. A pop star might pay someone to ghostwrite his memoirs. When a screenwriter can't figure out the perfect ending for the movie she's working on, she might hire someone to ghostwrite the screenplay. The original screenwriter will get her name in the credits, while the ghostwriter will get a paycheck. Sometimes people who aren't skilled writers will employ an expert to ghostwrite something for them — like a celebrity who wants to see their name on the cover of a book but doesn't have time to do the actual writing.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
He was commissioned to ghostwrite several other motivational books including “Passion, Profit, & Power” for hypnotist Marshall Sylver and “The Slight Edge” for self-help expert Jeff Olson.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 10, 2026
I was fine letting Gemini ghostwrite emails about insurance claims and refunds, but it didn’t feel right for messages to loved ones, even if the initial draft did sound like me.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 18, 2026
"I'm sure everybody aspires to be him. He's such a brilliant writer. It's very hard to ghostwrite a book and at some level never have it sound like it was written by somebody else."
From BBC ● Jan. 9, 2023
If you could ghostwrite someone else’s life story, whose would it be?
From New York Times ● Feb. 6, 2018
He says Kaufman asked him to ghostwrite a Son-Rise manual.
From Slate ● Sep. 22, 2017
I’ve argued that this is more akin to ghostwriting, since the student isn’t copying from an original source.
From Salon ● Aug. 23, 2026
Mr. Rees is the president of Geonomica, a ghostwriting firm, and a senior fellow at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 16, 2026
In direct messages between client and freelancer, matters of A.I. usage and ghostwriting can be discussed.
From Slate ● Mar. 20, 2026
Mr. Rees is the president of Geonomica, a ghostwriting firm, and the editor of Food and Health Facts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2025
Besides writing for virtually every mass market publication in America, she spent five years ghostwriting the Cholly Knickerbocker society column in the old Journal American.
From 100 New Yorkers of the 1970s by Max Millard
I wrote back: “I am extremely put off by the fakery of this whole exercise, and I question the ethics of a professor’s allowing his name to be put on a ghostwritten piece.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
That same year he released another of his ghostwritten books called “Time to Get Tough,” which had, you guessed it, a chapter called “Take The Oil.”
From Salon ● Apr. 7, 2026
He had recently authored a bestselling book, The Art of the Deal, and, though it was entirely ghostwritten and largely embellished, he figured that should give him street cred in the highest realms of deal-making.
From Slate ● Jun. 23, 2023
In the ghostwritten memoir Harry, 38, recounts his grief at the death of his mother,
From Washington Times ● Jan. 10, 2023
Alan Gould of the Associated Press promptly hired her to cover the Berlin Olympics as a reporter, though in fact her pieces would be ghostwritten.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
After Nixon returned to San Clemente, Khachigian helped him write his autobiography — basically ghostwrote it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 8, 2024
He didn't disclose which artists he ghostwrote for in the video.
From Salon ● Feb. 8, 2024
Indeed, it is quite likely that Roberts actually ghostwrote one op-ed that he quoted in Milligan to illustrate the Justice Department’s hostility.
From Slate ● Jun. 8, 2023
It is not his first foray into the world of celebrity memories - he ghostwrote Andre Agassi's memoir, Open, and collaborated with Nike co-founder Phil Knight for his autobiography, Shoe Dog.
From BBC ● Jan. 9, 2023
With Maggie’s input, Ellet ghostwrote a book about Maggie and Elisha’s relationship.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
