Definition

1. Noun:

   • A faint trace or suggestion of something: A very small, barely noticeable amount or indication of a quality, feeling, or thing.
   • The soul or spirit of a dead person, imagined as a pale, shadowy, and often visible form: The disembodied essence of a deceased person, believed to sometimes appear to the living.
   • A person who secretly does writing or other work for another person who is publicly credited: A ghostwriter.
   • A haunting memory or image: A mental impression of a past, often disturbing, experience that lingers in the mind.

2. Verb:

   • To write as a ghostwriter: To author a text on behalf of another person who receives the official credit.
   • To haunt or appear like a ghost: To move silently, stealthily, or in a way that is reminiscent of a specter.
   • To end a personal relationship by suddenly and without explanation withdrawing from all communication: (Informal, modern usage) To cease contact abruptly.

Usage Examples

• Noun:

  • He detected a ghost of a smile on her face. (He saw the faintest hint of a smile.)
  • The old castle is said to be haunted by a ghost. (The spirit of a dead person is believed to be there.)
  • The celebrity hired a ghost to write her memoir. (She hired a person to write it secretly for her.)
  • He looked like he had seen a ghost. (He appeared very frightened, as if he had seen a spirit.)

• Verb:

  • She ghosts articles for a famous journalist. (She writes articles that are published under his name.)
  • The figure ghosted through the mist and disappeared. (The figure moved silently and mysteriously.)
  • After their argument, he just ghosted her. (He stopped replying to her messages entirely.)

Advanced Usage

• "to give up the ghost": To die or stop working.
  • My old car finally gave up the ghost. (My car finally broke down completely.)
• "not a ghost of a chance": No chance at all.
  • He doesn't have a ghost of a chance of winning. (He has absolutely no possibility of winning.)
• "ghost in the machine": A phrase referring to an unexplained or seemingly supernatural element within a system, especially consciousness in a body.

Variants and Related Words

• Ghostly (adj): Resembling or characteristic of a ghost; eerie and pale.
  • A ghostly figure appeared in the hallway.
• Ghostwrite (v): To write (something) for another person who is the named author.
  • He agreed to ghostwrite the politician's autobiography.
• Ghostwriter (n): A person who writes material for another who is the named author.
  • She works as a ghostwriter for several CEOs.

Synonyms

• Noun: Specter, phantom, apparition, spirit, wraith, hint, trace, suggestion.
• Verb: Haunt, shadow, ghostwrite, vanish.

Related Phrasal Verbs / Phrases

• Ghost around (informal): To move about quietly and stealthily.
  • I thought I saw someone ghosting around the garden last night.
• To be ghosted: To be on the receiving end of someone ending contact abruptly.
  • She was upset after being ghosted by her date.

Related Idioms

• Lay a ghost to rest: To stop being troubled by a memory or a past event.
  • Visiting the old house helped her lay that ghost to rest.
• As pale as a ghost: Extremely pale, especially from fear or illness.
  • When he heard the news, he went as pale as a ghost.

Noun

1. a suggestion of some quality
   • there was a touch of sarcasm in his tone
   • he detected a ghost of a smile on her face
2. the visible disembodied soul of a dead person
3. a writer who gives the credit of authorship to someone else
4. a mental representation of some haunting experience
   • he looked like he had seen a ghost
   • it aroused specters from his past

Verb

1. write for someone else
   • How many books have you ghostwritten so far?
2. haunt like a ghost; pursue
   • Fear of illness haunts her
3. move like a ghost
   • The masked men ghosted across the moonlit yard