adjective
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of or resembling a ghost; spectral
a ghostly face appeared at the window
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suggesting the presence of ghosts; eerie
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archaic of or relating to the soul or spirit
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of ghostly
before 900; Middle English; Old English gāstlīc. See ghost, -ly
Explanation
Something ghostly looks or sounds like a ghost — strange and chilling. A ghostly figure appearing out of the fog can seem slightly unearthly. Distant, ghostly music sometimes echoes through an empty subway station, and ghostly voices can often be heard in stairwells or hallways, seeming to come from nowhere. Even your neighbor's glowing TV screen can appear ghostly on a dark night. The Old English root of ghostly is gastlic, which means "spiritual, holy, or not of the flesh," and also "supernatural."
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:
But then he saw it: a limited edition, three-wheeled Street Glide with a trio of ghostly eagles adorning its obsidian paint job.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 4, 2026
Its ghostly skull may be one of Antarctica's most unusual sights, but the gradual transformation of the ice that shapes it tells an even more important story.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 2, 2026
Back in Setagaya, Ryua says she is happy living with her ghostly flatmate.
From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2026
The experience of pilgrimage became a ritual, and there’s a ghostly quality to these pictures.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
He looked ghostly white, and his eyes darted around the room like something was about to attack him.
From "Millionaires for the Month" by Stacey McAnulty
At 60 minutes, the production is not quite as tight as it could be; its shifts into Bete’s childhood, and other, ghostlier realms don’t always persuade.
From New York Times ● Aug. 26, 2021
Soon Anna and Vronsky and a few ghostlier figures are languishing in the corners of the tidy condo she shares with her dentist husband and school-age son.
From New York Times ● Nov. 30, 2017
Yet nothing is ghostlier than the hawk itself.
From Slate ● Mar. 6, 2015
As the light in her room grew ghostlier, Princess Sophia's voice became gradually incoherent, dropped to a vague whisper, and finally ceased.
From The Genius by Margaret Horton Potter
At last they realised the light was already fading; the mist on all things was ghostlier, and damp in the throat and nostrils.
From An Engagement of Convenience A Novel by Louis Zangwill
Is Europe's ghostliest train station about to rise again?
From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2022
Dead, in the ghostliest sense of the word,—the viewless pressure upon her life of numberless vanished generations.
From Japan: an Attempt at Interpretation by Lafcadio Hearn
When I went there, I had the queerest, ghostliest sensation of having seen it all before.
From Lafcadio Hearn by Nina H. Kennard
He had walked in total unconsciousness, neither hearing nor seeing anybody or anything, and without a thought of where he was going, or the ghostliest semblance of a purpose in his mind.
From Ben-Hur; a tale of the Christ by Lewis Wallace
"You are the ghostliest thing I've ever known," said David with a nervous laugh of relief.
From The Rose in the Ring by George Barr McCutcheon
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
