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:
They hinted at a darker, more gothic aesthetic, with lyrics haunted by ghostly figures and existential crises.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026
The ghostly white creature curled up on a weighing scale is almost unrecognisable in the Facebook post offering it for sale.
From Barron's ● Jun. 29, 2026
Marcia suggested that Obi-Wan Kenobi could then be a ghostly presence.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 2, 2026
The algae provide coral's characteristic colours, and their departure leaves behind a ghostly white structure that is gradually starving.
From Barron's ● May 22, 2026
The northern lights cast a ghostly green color over the white world ahead of them until dark clouds rolled in and it began to snow, making it hard to see.
From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz
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 Potter, Margaret Horton
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 Zangwill, Louis
Is Europe's ghostliest train station about to rise again?
From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2022
What I shall do with the young cub I have not the ghostliest shadow of an idea.
From Glengarry School Days: a story of early days in Glengarry by Connor, Ralph
It was the strangest, ghostliest thing he had ever seen!
From Warlock o' Glenwarlock by MacDonald, George
I stood in front of them and did the ghostliest things till I was clean tired out and discouraged.
From Humorous Ghost Stories by Scarborough, Dorothy
It was as if all the ghosts in Hades had suddenly piped up at their shrillest and ghostliest.
From The Yeoman Adventurer by Gough, George W.
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.
