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
Years ago, he used to ghostwrite punch lines and comic scenarios for a cartoonist, who published some of their creations, in The New Yorker.
From New York Times ● Nov. 11, 2020
Hired to ghostwrite BoJack’s memoir in the show’s pilot, uptight, judgmental, dependable Diane stands in stark contrast with the circus around her.
From Slate ● Feb. 24, 2020
Mr. Rees is president of the ghostwriting firm Geonomica and a senior fellow at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 16, 2026
Zehme, who wrote for Rolling Stone and other major magazines, had authored books on Frank Sinatra and Andy Kaufman in addition to ghostwriting memoirs for Regis Philbin and Leno.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2024
So ghostwriting is the only way they could eke out a decent career.
From Salon ● Apr. 5, 2024
And that's what ignited the idea of this whole "ghostwriting" theme.
From BBC ● May 9, 2023
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 Millard, Max
Epstein was his own first chronicler, enough of a celebrity by 1964 to publish a ghostwritten memoir, “A Cellarful of Noise.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 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
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
Chevron retaliated with a legal onslaught alleging that Donziger effectively ghostwrote the report that led to his success in court.
From Salon ● Jul. 8, 2021
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.
