English dictionary

ghost Meaning & Definition

Q: What is the past tense of ghost?

The past tense of ghost is ghosted. The present participle is ghosting.

/ɡəʊst/

What Does Ghost Mean?

As a noun, ghost means A disembodied soul; a soul or spirit of a deceased person; a spirit appearing after death. It is also used to mean A spirit; a human soul. As an adjective, it means In the form be ghost: not present or involved; absent, gone. As a verb, it means Of a disembodied soul: to appear (somewhere or to someone) in the form of an apparition; to haunt. To imbue (something) with a ghost-like effect or hue. To continuously cause (someone or something) trouble; specifically, to continuously be in the thoughts of (someone) in a disturbing manner; to perturb, to trouble. To kill (someone). To gray out (a visual element) to indicate that it is unavailable. To forcibly disconnect (an IRC user) who is using one's reserved nickname. To stop communicating with (someone) on social media, through text messages, etc., without explanation, especially as a way of ending a relationship; hence, to end a relationship with (someone) by stopping all communication without explanation. To transfer (a prisoner) to another prison, usually without first informing the prisoner. Synonym of ghostwrite (“to write (a literary work or speech), or produce (an artistic work)), in the place of someone”); also, to carry out (an artistic performance) in the place of someone.

Ghost at a Glance

Part of speech	noun, adjective, verb
Pronunciation	//ɡəʊst//
Syllables	1
Synonyms	wraith, specter and trace
Plural	ghosts
Verb forms	ghosts, ghosting, ghosted

Ghost Definition (Noun)

A disembodied soul; a soul or spirit of a deceased person; a spirit appearing after death.
Everyone believed that the ghost of an old lady haunted the crypt.
A spirit; a human soul.
Any faint shadowy semblance; an unsubstantial image.
not a ghost of a chance
A false image, such as in a photographic print or negative, on a television screen, radar display, or telescope, caused by poor or double reception or reflection (from a lens or screen).
A faint image that remains after an attempt to remove graffiti.
Ellipsis of ghostwriter.
I’ve written both as a ghost for experts and under my name.
A nonexistent person invented to obtain some (typically fraudulent) benefit.
A dead person whose identity is stolen by another (see ghosting). (Can we verify this sense?)
An unresponsive user on IRC, resulting from the user's client disconnecting without notifying the server.
A copy of a file or record.
An understudy. (Can we verify this sense?)
A covert (and deniable) agent.
An opponent in a racing game that follows a previously recorded route, allowing players to compete against previous best times.
Someone whose identity cannot be established because there are no records of such a person.
An unphysical state in a gauge theory.
A formerly nonexistent character that was at some point mistakenly encoded into a character set standard, which might have since become used opportunistically for some genuine purpose.
彁 is a ghost character from the Japanese JIS X 0208 character set.
Ellipsis of ghost pepper.
A game in which players take turns to add a letter to a possible word, trying not to complete a word.
White or pale.
ghost slug
Transparent or translucent.
ghost ant
Abandoned.
ghost town
Remnant; remains.
ghost apples (a thin layer of ice in the shape of an apple, which forms around it and is left behind when the apple rots and falls out)
Perceived or listed but not real.
ghost cellphone vibration
Of a cryptid, supernatural or extraterrestrial nature.
ghost rocket
Substitute.
ghost writer

Ghost as an Adjective

In the form be ghost: not present or involved; absent, gone.

Ghost as a Verb

Of a disembodied soul: to appear (somewhere or to someone) in the form of an apparition; to haunt. To imbue (something) with a ghost-like effect or hue. To continuously cause (someone or something) trouble; specifically, to continuously be in the thoughts of (someone) in a disturbing manner; to perturb, to trouble. To kill (someone). To gray out (a visual element) to indicate that it is unavailable. To forcibly disconnect (an IRC user) who is using one's reserved nickname. To stop communicating with (someone) on social media, through text messages, etc., without explanation, especially as a way of ending a relationship; hence, to end a relationship with (someone) by stopping all communication without explanation. To transfer (a prisoner) to another prison, usually without first informing the prisoner. Synonym of ghostwrite (“to write (a literary work or speech), or produce (an artistic work)), in the place of someone”); also, to carry out (an artistic performance) in the place of someone.
Of a disembodied soul: to appear (somewhere or to someone) in the form of an apparition; to haunt. To imbue (something) with a ghost-like effect or hue.
Of a disembodied soul: to appear (somewhere or to someone) in the form of an apparition; to haunt.
To imbue (something) with a ghost-like effect or hue.
To continuously cause (someone or something) trouble; specifically, to continuously be in the thoughts of (someone) in a disturbing manner; to perturb, to trouble. To kill (someone). To gray out (a visual element) to indicate that it is unavailable. To forcibly disconnect (an IRC user) who is using one's reserved nickname. To stop communicating with (someone) on social media, through text messages, etc., without explanation, especially as a way of ending a relationship; hence, to end a relationship with (someone) by stopping all communication without explanation. To transfer (a prisoner) to another prison, usually without first informing the prisoner.
To continuously cause (someone or something) trouble; specifically, to continuously be in the thoughts of (someone) in a disturbing manner; to perturb, to trouble.
To kill (someone).
To gray out (a visual element) to indicate that it is unavailable. To forcibly disconnect (an IRC user) who is using one's reserved nickname.
To gray out (a visual element) to indicate that it is unavailable.
To forcibly disconnect (an IRC user) who is using one's reserved nickname.
To stop communicating with (someone) on social media, through text messages, etc., without explanation, especially as a way of ending a relationship; hence, to end a relationship with (someone) by stopping all communication without explanation.
To transfer (a prisoner) to another prison, usually without first informing the prisoner.
Synonym of ghostwrite (“to write (a literary work or speech), or produce (an artistic work)), in the place of someone”); also, to carry out (an artistic performance) in the place of someone.
To appear suddenly or move like a disembodied soul; specifically ; also followed by the dummy subject it: to move easily and quietly without anyone noticing; to slip. Followed by for: synonym of ghostwrite (“to write a literary work or speech, or produce an artistic work, in the place of someone”); also, to carry out an artistic performance in the place of someone. Of a sailing vessel: to sail seemingly with very little or no wind. Apparently only in the writings of the Dutch-English physician Gideon Harvey (c. 1636–1640 – c. 1700–1702): to die, to expire.
To appear suddenly or move like a disembodied soul; specifically ; also followed by the dummy subject it: to move easily and quietly without anyone noticing; to slip.
Followed by for: synonym of ghostwrite (“to write a literary work or speech, or produce an artistic work, in the place of someone”); also, to carry out an artistic performance in the place of someone.
Of a sailing vessel: to sail seemingly with very little or no wind.
Apparently only in the writings of the Dutch-English physician Gideon Harvey (c. 1636–1640 – c. 1700–1702): to die, to expire.

Noun

The spirit; the soul of man.
The disembodied soul; the soul or spirit of a deceased person; a spirit appearing after death
Everyone believed that the ghost of an old lady haunted the crypt.
A false image formed in a telescope, camera, or other optical device by reflection from the surfaces of one or more lenses.
An unwanted image similar to and overlapping or adjacent to the main one on a television screen, caused by the transmitted image being received both directly and via reflection.
A ghostwriter.
An image of a file or hard disk.
An understudy.
The faint image that remains after an attempt to remove graffiti.
A dead person whose identity is stolen by another. See ghosting.
(in names of species) White or pale.
ghost slug; ghostberry; ghostflower; ghost crab; ghost bat
(in names of species) Transparent or translucent.
ghost ant; ghost catfish; ghost nipper; ghost nudibranch
Remnant; the remains of a(n).
ghost cell; ghost crater; ghost image
Of cryptid, supernatural or extraterrestrial nature.
ghost rocket; ghost deer; ghost cat

Verb

To haunt; to appear to in the form of an apparition.
To die; to expire.
To ghostwrite.
To sail seemingly without wind.
To copy a file or hard drive image.
To gray out (a visual item) to indicate that it is unavailable.
To appear without warning; to move quickly and quietly; to slip.
To kill.
To break up with someone without warning or explanation; to perform an act of ghosting.

Antonyms of Ghost

No antonyms or near antonyms are listed by the available sources for this entry.

Ghost in a Sentence

Everyone believed that the ghost of an old lady haunted the crypt.

He believes in ghosts.

not a ghost of a chance

the ghost of an idea

I’ve written both as a ghost for experts and under my name.

彁 is a ghost character from the Japanese JIS X 0208 character set.

ghost slug

ghost flower

ghost ant

ghost catfish

ghost town

ghost ship

ghost apples (a thin layer of ice in the shape of an apple, which forms around it and is left behind when the apple rots and falls out)

ghost fossils (impressions of things like shells that remain in the rock after the shell etc dissolves)

ghost cell

ghost craters (craters that have been filled, e.g. with volcanic deposits)

ghost image

ghost cellphone vibration

ghost pain

ghost island

ghost voter

ghost job

ghost rocket

ghost deer

ghost writer

ghost singer

not a ghost of a chance; the ghost of an idea

ghost slug; ghostberry; ghostflower; ghost crab; ghost bat

ghost ant; ghost catfish; ghost nipper; ghost nudibranch

ghost town; ghost net; ghost ramp; ghost ship

ghost cell; ghost crater; ghost image

ghost pain; ghost cellphone vibration; ghost island; ghost voter

ghost rocket; ghost deer; ghost cat

ghost writer; ghost band; ghost singer

Word Forms & Grammar

ghost (countable and uncountable, plural ghosts)

ghost (not comparable)

ghost (third-person singular simple present ghosts, present participle ghosting, simple past and past participle ghosted)

Words That Rhyme With Ghost

host engrossed riposte post boast utmost outpost toast coast almost uppermost innermost first and foremost frowst roast from pillar to post cohost mosttrading postglasnostobservation postsignpost goalpostking postlamppost seacoast guidepost sternpost queen post overdosed

Origin of Ghost

The noun is derived from Middle English gost, from Old English gāst, gǣst (“breath, spirit, soul, ghost”) (cf. modern English Holy Ghost), from Proto-West Germanic *gaist, from Proto-Germanic *gaistaz, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰéysdos, from *ǵʰéysd- (“anger, agitation”).[1] Doublet of geist.

Ghost Pronunciation

Ghost is pronounced //ɡəʊst// and has 1 syllable.

Quick Answers About Ghost

Is ghost a noun or an adjective?

Ghost is mainly used as a noun, but it can also be used as an adjective and a verb.

What is another word for ghost?

Close synonyms of ghost are wraith, specter and trace. See the full list of ghost synonyms and antonyms.