ghostwrite

American  

[gohst-rahyt] / ˈgoʊstˌraɪt /

verb (used with or without object)

ghostwrote, ghostwritten, ghostwriting

1. to write as a ghostwriter.

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ghostwrite British  

/ ˈɡəʊstˌraɪt /

verb

1. Often shortened to: ghost.  to write (an autobiographical or other article) on behalf of a person who is then credited as author

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Other Word Forms

• ghostwriter noun

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

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

Olivia Dumont is up to her ears in debt when she gets an offer to ghostwrite a memoir for uber-popular horror writer Vincent Taylor.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 16, 2025

"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

His scheme was to devise his own corrective biography, ostensibly with Miller as authorized author, while behind the scenes Roth would, in effect, ghostwrite it with proddings and minute supervisions of method and means.

From New York Times • Apr. 1, 2021

And she always told this funny story where she would say, Marty read the draft opinion and sort of hollered, Ruthie, did you write this for him, did you ghostwrite this thing?

From Slate • Sep. 21, 2020

Related Words

• conceive
• design
• devise
• form
• invent
• orchestrate
• pen
• produce
• set up
• write