ghosting

[ goh-sting ]

/ ˈgoʊ stɪŋ /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR ghosting ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

Television. the appearance of multiple images, or ghosts, on a television screen.

Informal.

the practice of suddenly ending all contact with a person without explanation, especially in a romantic relationship:He was a victim of ghosting.
Also called French goodbye, Irish goodbye. the act of leaving a social event or engagement suddenly without saying goodbye:Ghosting might be the best option if we want to get home before midnight.

Digital Technology. the removal of comments, threads, or other content from a website or online forum without informing the poster, keeping them hidden from the public but still visible to the poster.

Nearby words

ghost town, ghost word, ghost writer, ghost-weed, ghostfish, ghosting, ghostly, ghosts, ghostwrite, ghostwriter, ghoul

Origin of ghosting

ghost + -ing¹

Definition for ghosting (2 of 2)

ghost

[ gohst ]

/ goʊst /

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.

a mere shadow or semblance; a trace: He's a ghost of his former self.

a remote possibility: He hasn't a ghost of a chance.

(sometimes initial capital letter) a spiritual being.

the principle of life; soul; spirit.

Informal. ghost writer.

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 image. 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.).

to haunt.

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

Informal.

to suddenly end all contact with (a person) without explanation, especially in a romantic relationship:The guy I’ve been dating ghosted me.
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 ghostwrite.

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.

Informal.

to suddenly end all contact with a person without explanation, especially in a romantic relationship:They dated for a month and then she ghosted.
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.

Origin of ghost

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

SYNONYMS FOR ghost

1 apparition, phantom, phantasm, wraith, revenant; shade, spook. 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.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR ghost ON THESAURUS.COM

Related forms

ghost·i·ly, adverbghost·like, adjectivede·ghost, verb (used with object)un·ghost·like, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for ghosting

Unlike most government officials, he wrote well, even when ghosting.
An American in Full|Jonathan Alter|December 14, 2010|DAILY BEAST
There was no second thought in her mind when she first declined the ghosting, and afterwards undertook the part.
Orley Farm|Anthony Trollope

British Dictionary definitions for ghosting

ghost

/ (ɡəʊst) /

noun

the disembodied spirit of a dead person, supposed to haunt the living as a pale or shadowy vision; phantomRelated adjective: spectral

a haunting memorythe ghost of his former life rose up before him

a faint trace or possibility of something; glimmera ghost of a smile

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

physics

a faint secondary image produced by an optical system
a similar image on a television screen, formed by reflection of the transmitting waves or by a defect in the receiver

See ghost word

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

Another name for ghostwriterSee ghostwrite

(modifier) falsely recorded as doing a particular job or fulfilling a particular function in order that some benefit, esp money, may be obtaineda ghost worker

give up the ghost

to die
(of a machine) to stop working

verb

See ghostwrite

(tr) to haunt

(intr) to move effortlessly and smoothly, esp unnoticedhe ghosted into the penalty area

Derived Forms

ghostlike, adjective

Word Origin for ghost

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Idioms and Phrases with ghosting

ghost

In addition to the idiom beginning with ghost

ghost town

also see:

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

ghosting

noun

RELATED CONTENT

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of ghosting

Definition for ghosting (2 of 2)

ghost

noun

verb (used with object)

verb (used without object)

adjective

Origin of ghost

SYNONYMS FOR ghost

Related forms

Examples from the Web for ghosting

British Dictionary definitions for ghosting

ghost

noun

verb

Derived Forms

Word Origin for ghost

Idioms and Phrases with ghosting

ghost