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

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

"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

After moving to Paris, author Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette agrees to ghostwrite a semi-autobiographical novel for her husband.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 30, 2020

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