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:
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
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
If you could ghostwrite someone else’s life story, whose would it be?
From New York Times ● Feb. 6, 2018
I have experience with ghostwriting on both sides of the editorial fence.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
And most people contend that plagiarism, cheating and ghostwriting are all cut from the same cloth because they all lack the spark that we ascribe to truly original thinking and writing.
From Salon ● Aug. 23, 2026
Mr. Rees is the president of Geonomica, a ghostwriting firm, and a senior fellow at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 16, 2026
While the official contract cannot explicitly mention the practice of ghostwriting, rewriting, or in-line editing, it can acknowledge revision, commentary, and any form of feedback.
From Slate ● Mar. 20, 2026
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 Max Millard
Agents noted that Navatek may have ghostwritten the technical description that accompanied this line item because “an almost identical paragraph” appeared in Hartman’s internal spreadsheets two months before the Senate report became public.
From Salon ● Oct. 20, 2026
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
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
Now comes the prince’s multimillion-dollar ghostwritten memoir, “Spare.”
From New York Times ● Jan. 9, 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
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