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English
Etymology
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.
- The unetymological H in the spelling appears in the Prologue to William Caxton’s Royal Book, printed in 1484, in a reference to the “Holy Ghoost”. It was likely influenced by Middle Dutch gheest, a common variant of geest. Both Caxton and his assistant Wynkyn de Worde had connections to the Low Countries.[1][2] The spelling otherwise yielded would have been goast.
- The adjective and verb[3] are derived from the noun. The verb gained prominence in the 2010s.[4]
cognates
- Danish gast (“ghost”), gejst (“enthusiasm”)
- Dutch geest (“ghost, spirit”)
- German Geist (“ghost, spirit”)
- Luxembourgish Geescht (“ghost, spirit, spectre, phantom”)
- Saterland Frisian Gäist, Jeest (“ghost, spirit”)
- Scots gaist, ghaist (“ghost”)
- Swedish gast (“ghost”)
- Vilamovian gȧjst (“ghost, spirit”)
- West Frisian geast (“ghost, spirit”)
- Yiddish גײַסט (gayst, “ghost, spirit”)
- Yola gaast (“ghost”)
Pronunciation
Noun
ghost (countable and uncountable, plural ghosts)
- A disembodied soul; a soul or spirit of a deceased person; a spirit appearing after death.
- Synonyms: apparition, bogey, phantom, revenant, specter, spook; see also Thesaurus:ghost
Everyone believed that the ghost of an old lady haunted the crypt. He believes in ghosts.
1798, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancyent Marinere:I thought that I had died in sleep/And was a blessed ghost
1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:For a moment I was puzzled, but presently, of course, it struck me that he must have seen Ayesha, wrapped in her grave-like garment, and been deceived by the extraordinary undulating smoothness of her walk into a belief that she was a white ghost gliding towards him.
1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, →ISBN, page vii:Hepaticology, outside the temperate parts of the Northern Hemisphere, still lies deep in the shadow cast by that ultimate "closet taxonomist," Franz Stephani—a ghost whose shadow falls over us all.
- (Christianity, literary, chiefly archaic) A spirit; a human soul.
- Synonyms: essence, soul, spirit, anima; see also Thesaurus:ghost
2013, Kenneth Palmer, Just Thoughts: Looking at Man's Whole Self, page 20:Enlightening the eyes and a taste for hope, emotions are felt from an inward ghost.
2014, Neville Moray, Science, Cells and Souls: An Introduction to Human Nature:If I thought that “I” referred to my inner ghost, I wouldn't be worried because a bullet can't hurt a ghost, and equally there would be no point in your shooting.
2017, Anastasia Burton, You and I, in a Thousand Moons:It also required four years of finding your inner ghost and becoming one with it. The inner ghost is within every person who is still alive.
- (by extension) Any faint shadowy semblance; an unsubstantial image.
- Synonyms: glimmer, glimmering, glimpse, hint, inkling, phantom, spark, suggestion
not a ghost of a chance the ghost of an idea
1984 December 29, Duncan Mitchel, “The Cult of Gay Machismo”, in Gay Community News, volume 12, number 25, page 14:Armistead Maupin's novels reflect more awareness of, and affection for, the texture of real life than As If After Sex. Maupin's characters may get into cartoonlike adventures, but they are real people. Torchia's characters do drearily familiar things, but they are ghosts.
2013 May-June, William E. Conner, “An Acoustic Arms Race”, in American Scientist[3], volume 101, number 3, archived from the original on 17 July 2013, pages 206–7:Earless ghost swift moths become “invisible” to echolocating bats by forming mating clusters close (less than half a meter) above vegetation and effectively blending into the clutter of echoes that the bat receives from the leaves and stems around them.
2017 July 23, Brandon Nowalk, “The great game begins with a bang on Game Of Thrones (newbies)”, in The Onion AV Club[4], archived from the original on 26 July 2017:[…] She barely answers his questions. She’s a ghost of herself. And then Hot Pie gives us the key to Arya’s whole thing this season so far: She didn’t know that Jon had defeated the Boltons.
- 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).
- Synonym: echo
2007, Albert Abramson, The History of Television, 1942 to 2000, page 60:There was less flicker, jitter was nonexistent, and the screen pattern had been rendered far more viewworthy, with ghosts being virtually suppressed.
- (cleaning, graffiti slang) A faint image that remains after an attempt to remove graffiti.
- Synonym: shadow
1992, M. J. Whitford, Getting Rid of Graffiti, Routledge, →ISBN, page 45:Regardless of GRM used, graffiti ghosts persist. Protect cladding with surface coating or replace with graffiti resistant paint or laminate.
- (writing) 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.
2004, Joint Learning Initiative, Global Equity Initiative, Human Resources for Health: Overcoming the Crisis, page 76:Some health systems are plagued by "ghost" and "absent" workers. Ghost workers are nonexistent, listed in the payroll, and paid, a clear sign of corruption.
2008, The Asia-Pacific Human Development Report, page 63:1,500 secondary schools in Jiangxi found 125 cases of illegally collected Ghosts and Absentees fees worth $2 million.
- 2023, Barony of Ponte Alto, Society for Creative Anachronism, Ponte Alto Pennsic Encampment 2023 - Barony Registration:
- Before filling out this form, please visit the Pennsic Pre-Registration Page to create your account and enter your campers and ghosts [nonexistent campers one pays for to legitimately increase the size of one's allotted camping space].
- A dead person whose identity is stolen by another (see ghosting). (Can we verify(+) this sense?)
- (Internet) An unresponsive user on IRC, resulting from the user's client disconnecting without notifying the server.
2004, Paul Mutton, IRC Hacks: 100 Industrial-Strength Tips & Tools, page 31:This will let you open a query with NickServ again so you can remove your “ghost” from the server: […]
- (computing) A copy of a file or record.
- Synonym: backup
- (theater) An understudy. (Can we verify(+) this sense?)
- (espionage) A covert (and deniable) agent.
- Synonyms: spook, spy
- (video games) An opponent in a racing game that follows a previously recorded route, allowing players to compete against previous best times.
2012, Keith Burgun, Game Design Theory: A New Philosophy for Understanding Games:This is also the case for some racing games (Super Mario Kart is a good example) that allow you to compete against your ghosts, which are precise recordings of your performance.
- Someone whose identity cannot be established because there are no records of such a person.
2014 August 19, Michael Sloan, The Equalizer: A Novel, Macmillan, →ISBN, page 156:" […] no record of a Robert, or Bobby, Maclain that fits our man's description," Kuzbec said. "No social, no driver's license, no address, no military service record. He's a ghost." Kirov did find that interesting.
2015 November 3, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Born of Betrayal: The League: Nemesis Rising, St. Martin's Press, →ISBN:"He's a ghost. No record of any kind, anywhere. I got nothing when I did a trace. I'm thinking he was either erased or he's something we don't know about." Nyk rubbed at his jaw. "If he was erased, Syn, he'd have a record […]"
- (quantum mechanics) An unphysical state in a gauge theory.
1966, Kàzmèr L. Nagy, State Vector Spaces with Indefinite Metric in Quantum Field Theory, page 14:The proof is well known, and independent of the metric, but to make certain we prove it here also for the case when the state vector system of an operator contains multipole[sic] ghosts.
2019, Radin Dardashti, Richard Dawid, Karim Thébault, Why Trust a Theory?, page 180:Soon after, the proof of the No-Ghost Theorem, establishing that the DRM has no ghosts if d ≤ 26, was achieved independently by Brower (1972) and by Goddard and Thorn (1972).
- (computing, linguistics, attributive) 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.
- (countable) Ellipsis of ghost pepper.
2018 October 2, Julie Thompson-Adolf, Starting & Saving Seeds: Grow the Perfect Vegetables, Fruits, Herbs, and Flowers for Your Garden, Cool Springs Press, →ISBN, page 68:Spicy or mild, lovely bells or scary ghosts, peppers belong in your garden. Not only are they delicious, they add a gorgeous pop of color to vegetable gardens. When starting pepper seeds, consider using a heat mat.
2022 July 5, Alice Zaslavsky, In Praise of Veg: The Ultimate Cookbook for Vegetable Lovers, Appetite by Random House, →ISBN:Fresh chili has a glossy smooth skin like a bell pepper...unless you're in scorching territory, with the likes of Ghosts or Reapers (their name should give the game away), where the skin looks [wrinkled].
- (uncountable, often capitalized) A game in which players take turns to add a letter to a possible word, trying not to complete a word.
1897, Emma J. Gray, Fun for the Household: A Book of Games, page 110:GHOST. This is a spelling game. A person gives a letter, […] his next neighbor must think of a word beginning with this letter, and then say the second letter, […]
2008 04, Joanne O'Sullivan, I Don't Care If We're There Yet: The Backseat Boredom Buster, Lark Books, →ISBN, page 183:[…] word is, you win the round. But be warned : if she does have a real word in mind, you lose. Bluffing[:] It's possible to bluff in Ghost. For example, you can pretend to add a suffix to a word, even if that word doesn't exist. If no […]
2013 July 17, Milton Pashcow, Sicilian Escapade: A Devil in Eden, Xlibris Corporation, →ISBN, page 21:[…] played ghost, which was a popular word game at that time. Ghost was a very convenient game since it required no props, lights, or space. Each player must add a letter to the continuous formation of a word supplied by the previous player […]
2018 June 12, Edward M. Hallowell, Because I Come from a Crazy Family: The Making of a Psychiatrist, Bloomsbury Publishing USA, →ISBN, page 26:[…] played ghost, a word game. For quite a while, I spent most of my time at their house. I can't remember why I lived with them or exactly where my mother and my older brothers, Ben and John, were after Dad left. […]
2017 November 1, Heidi Harley, English Words: A Linguistic Introduction, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN:Another game in which your phonotactic instincts are brought to bear is "Ghost," a good car game for spelling geeks. In Ghost, players take turns adding a letter to a string of letters. The letter added must create the beginning of a correctly spelled word, but you don't want to add a letter which will complete […]
- (attributive, in names of species) White or pale.
- (attributive, in names of species) Transparent or translucent.
- (attributive) Abandoned.
- (attributive) 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) 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)
- (attributive) Perceived or listed but not real.
ghost cellphone vibration ghost pain ghost job
- (attributive) Of a cryptid, supernatural or extraterrestrial nature.
- (attributive) Substitute.
ghost singer
Alternative forms
Derived terms
Descendants
- → Japanese: ゴースト (gōsuto)
- → Korean: 고스트 (goseuteu)
Translations
spirit appearing after death
- Afrikaans: spook, gees (af)
- Ainu: (please verify) トゥカㇷ゚ (tukap)
- Alabama: (please verify) aatsollokchi, (please verify) sollòkchi
- Albanian: fantazmë (sq) f, gogol (sq), hije (sq), stihji, bubë (sq), flama
- Arabic: شَبَح m (šabaḥ), خَيَال (ar) m (ḵayāl), زَوْل m (zawl), طَيْف m (ṭayf), رُوح (ar) m or f (rūḥ), شَبْح m (šabḥ)
- Egyptian Arabic: عفريت m (ʕafrīt), شبح m (šabaḥ)
- Hijazi Arabic: جِنِّي m (jinni), عفريت m (ʕafrīt)
- Aragonese: (please verify) pantasma m, (please verify) espectro m, (please verify) espírito m, (please verify) aparición f, (please verify) sombra f, (please verify) alma f
- Armenian: ուրվական (hy) (urvakan), հոգի (hy) (hogi)
- Asturian: pantasma m, fantasma m, espectru m, espíritu m, apaición f, sombra (ast) f, alma (ast) f
- Azerbaijani: hayalet (az), ruh (az)
- Bashkir: өрәк (öräk)
- Basque: (please verify) mamu
- Belarusian: здань f (zdanʹ), пры́від (be) m (prývid), дух m (dux), фанто́м m (fantóm)
- Bemba: umulungulwa class 3
- Bengali: ভূত (bn) (bhut)
- Bikol:
- Central Bikol: kalag (bcl)
- Breton: (please verify) tasmant (br), (please verify) spes (br)
- Bulgarian: дух (bg) m (duh), при́зрак (bg) m (prízrak), привиде́ние (bg) n (prividénie)
- Burmese: သရဲ (my) (sa.rai:), တစ္ဆေ (my) (tachce), နာနာဘာဝ (my) (nanabhawa.)
- Catalan: fantasma (ca) m, espectre (ca) m, esperit (ca) m, aparició (ca) f, ànima (ca) f
- Chechen: гӏаларт (ğalart), бӏоб (bˀob)
- Cherokee: (please verify) ᎠᏂᏣᏍᎩᎵ (anitsasgili)
- Cheyenne: séo'ȯtse
- Chichewa: mzímu class 3, chiŵanda class 7, mzukwa class 3, chidangwaleza class 7 chidude class 7, chipukupuku class 7, chowuka class 7
- Chinese:
- Dungan: гуй (guy)
- Mandarin: 鬼 (zh) (guǐ), 鬼魂 (zh) (guǐhùn), 幽魂 (zh) (yōuhún), 幽靈 / 幽灵 (zh) (yōulíng)
- Comorian:
- Maore Comorian: mufu class 1/2
- Coptic: ϩⲟⲣⲧϥ m (hortf)
- Cree: (please verify) cîpay
- Czech: duch (cs) m, přízrak, zjevení (cs), fantóm, vidina (cs)
- Danish: spøgelse (da) n, genganger (da) c, genfærd (da) n, gespenst, ånd (da) c, draug, sjæl (da)
- Darkinjung: (please verify) buddhung
- Dutch: geest (nl) m, spook (nl) n, fantoom (nl) n, verschijning (nl) f, gespens n, schim (nl) f, spooksel (nl) n
- Egyptian: (ꜣḫ)
- Erzya: цюдавома (ćudavoma)
- Esperanto: fantomo, apero, ombro (eo), spirito (eo)
- Estonian: fantoom, kummitus (et)
- Evenki: (please verify) musun
- Faroese: dreygur (fo), andi (fo), spøkilsi
- Finnish: aave (fi), kummitus (fi), haamu (fi), henki (fi), sielu (fi)
- Fon: please add this translation if you can
- French: fantôme (fr) m, spectre (fr) m, esprit (fr) m, revenant (fr) m, apparition (fr) f, fantasme (fr) m
- Old French: (please verify) fantosme
- Frisian:
- North Frisian: Spook c (Sylt)
- Saterland Frisian: (please verify) spouk, (please verify) gäist
- West Frisian: spûk n
- Friulian: (please verify) fantàsime m, (please verify) parence
- Galician: pantasma m, estantiga (gl) f, estadea (gl) f, cocón m, zarronco m, magadaña f, mandrágula f, bulto m, espantallada f, espantonia f, defunto (gl) m, aparición (gl) f
- Georgian: (please verify) მოჩვენება (močveneba), ზმანება (zmaneba), მოლანდება (molandeba), აჩრდილი (ačrdili), ლანდი (landi)
- German: Gespenst (de) n, Geist (de) m, Phantom (de) n, Spuk (de) m, Erscheinung (de) f
- Alemannic German: Gehuuri n
- Old High German: (please verify) geist, (please verify) gitrog
- Greek: φάντασμα (el) (fántasma)
- Ancient Greek: φάσμα n (phásma), φάντασμα n (phántasma)
- Guarani:
- Paraguayan Guarani: (please verify) póra
- Hawaiian: lapu, akua, ʻuhane
- Hebrew: רוּחַ רְפָאִים (he) m (rúakh refa'ím)
- Hindi: भूत (hi) m (bhūt), आत्मा (hi) f (ātmā), प्रेत m (pret), छाया (hi) f (chāyā), रूह (hi) f (rūh), पिशाच (hi) m (piśāc), वेताल (hi) m (vetāl), देव (hi) m (dev)
- Hungarian: (please verify) kísértet (hu), (please verify) szellem (hu), (please verify) fantom (hu)
- Icelandic: draugur (is) m, vofa (is) f
- Ido: fantomo (io)
- Ikizu: ɨkɨhwɨ class 7
- Indonesian: hantu (id), roh (id), dedemitan, polong (id), momok (id)
- Irish: taibhse (ga) f, sprid (ga) f
- Italian: fantasma (it) m, spettro (it) m, spirito (it) m, larva (it) f, apparizione (it) f, ombra (it) f, anima (it) f, simulacro (it) m, fantasima f, lemure (it) m
- Jamaican Creole: duppy
- Japanese: 幽霊 (ja) (ゆうれい, yūrei), 亡霊 (ja) (ぼうれい, bōrei), 化け物 (ja) (ばけもの, bakemono), 死霊 (ja) (しりょう, shiryō), 妖怪 (ja) (ようかい, yōkai), お化け (ja) (obake), 怨霊 (ja) (おんりょう, onryō), 幽鬼 (ja) (ゆうき, yūki), 魂魄 (ja) (こんぱく, konpaku), 精霊 (ja) (せいれい, seirei), 妖魔 (ja) (ようま, yōma), 魂 (ja) (こん, kon, たましい tamashii), 霊 (ja) (れい, rei), 変化 (ja) (へんげ, henge), 物の怪 (ja) (もののけ, mononoke), ゴースト (ja) (gōsuto)
- Kabuverdianu: finadu, gongon
- Kabwa: ekihwi class 7
- Kapampangan: maglalage
- Karbi: (please verify) chamburukso, (please verify) hi-eh
- Kazakh: елес (eles)
- Khmer: ខ្មោច (km) (khmaoc)
- Korean: 유령(幽靈) (ko) (yuryeong), 혼(魂) (ko) (hon), 고스트 (goseuteu), 환영(幻影) (ko) (hwanyeong), 환상(幻想) (ko) (hwansang), 귀신(鬼神) (ko) (gwisin), 영혼(靈魂) (ko) (yeonghon), 잡신(雜神) (japsin)
- Kven: haamu
- Kyrgyz: арбак (ky) (arbak)
- Ladin: (please verify) spiert, (please verify) utschac, (please verify) fantom
- Lao: ຜີ (phī), ພູດ (phūt), ຕາຫລອກ (tā lǭk), ປີສາດ (pī sāt)
- Latgalian: (please verify) mūksts, (please verify) čapāslys, (please verify) bīds
- Latin: spectrum n, larva f, phasma (la) n, umbra (la) f, phantasma n, manes (la) m pl
- Latvian: parādība f, spoks m, gars (lv), fantoms m, velis (lv) m
- Limburgish: (please verify) geis (li), (please verify) sjpook (li)
- Lithuanian: vaiduoklis, pamėklė f, fantomas m
- Low German:
- Dutch Low Saxon: (please verify) spoek, (please verify) spökels, (please verify) spöök, (please verify) jeist, (please verify) jespanst
- Luxembourgish: (please verify) Gespenst, (please verify) Geescht, (please verify) Phantom
- Macedonian: привидение n (prividenie), дух (mk) m (duh), сениште n (senište), призрак m (prizrak), авет m or f (avet), сенка f (senka), сен m (sen)
- Malagasy: (please verify) fanahy (mg), (please verify) matoatoa (mg)
- Malay: hantu (ms)
- Malayalam: ഭൂതം (ml) (bhūtaṁ), പ്രേതം (prētaṁ)
- Maltese: (please verify) ħares, (please verify) ruħ, (please verify) fatat, (please verify) spirtu
- Manchu: ᠪᡠᠴᡝᠯᡳ (buceli), ᡥᡠᡨᡠ (hutu)
- Manx: scaanjoon m, scaa m, scaan m
- Māori: kēhua, taipō
- Marathi: (please verify) भूत (bhūt)
- Middle English: goost
- Moksha: (please verify) [script needed] (sashendy kula), шота (šota)
- Mongolian:
- Cyrillic: сүнс (mn) (süns)
- Mongolian script: ᠰᠦᠨᠡᠰᠦ (sünesü)
- Naga:
- Khiamniungan Naga: ùo
- Navajo: chʼį́įdii
- Ndonga: oshiluli class 7
- Neapolitan: spireto, spettro
- Ngarrindjeri: (please verify) krinkari
- Nogai: теки (teki)
- Norman: vîsion f, êpitafl'ye f, fantôme m, r'vénant m
- Norwegian:
- Bokmål: spøkelse n, gjenferd n, gjenganger m, gespenst n
- Nynorsk: spøkelse n, gjenferd n, attergangar m, skrømt n
- Occitan: (please verify) fantauma (oc) m, (please verify) esglasi (oc), (please verify) trèva (oc) f, (please verify) hantauma (oc) m (Aranese)
- Okinawan: 幽霊 (ゆーりー, yūrī)
- Old English: gāst (ang) m
- O'odham: kok'oi
- Oromo: ekeraa
- Osage: ilǫ́ɣe, waną́ąɣe
- Pannonian Rusyn: дух m (dux), уява f (ujava), привидзенє n (prividzenje)
- Pashto: روح (ps) m (roh), شبح (ps) m (šebh)
- Pela: jui⁵⁵
- Persian:
- Dari: رُوح (rūh), شَبَح (šabah)
- Iranian Persian: روح (fa) (ruh), شَبَح (šabah)
- Picard: (please verify) rëv’nant, (please verify) rvënant, (please verify) spèke
- Plautdietsch: Spuak m, Jeist m
- Polabian: tvorzaikă m
- Polish: duch (pl) m, upiór (pl) m, fantom (pl) f, zwid m, zjawa (pl) f, widmo (pl), widziadło (pl), mara (pl)
- Portuguese: fantasma (pt) m, espectro (pt) m, espírito (pt) m, aparição (pt) f, assombração (pt) f, abantesma (pt), avantesma, abentesma, aventesma, avejão (pt), simulacro (pt), lêmure (pt), larva (pt) f, sombra (pt) f, alma (pt) f
- Punjabi:
- Gurmukhi: ਭੂਤ m (bhūt)
- Romani: ćovaxano m, mulo m, ćovaxani f, muli f
- Romanian: fantomă (ro) f, fantasmă (ro) f, spectru (ro) n, spirit (ro) n, (please verify) strigoi (ro) m, stafie (ro) f, duh (ro) n, apariție (ro) f, nălucă (ro) f, iazmă (ro) f
- Romansh: spiert m (Rumantsch Grischun, Sutsilvan, Surmiran, Puter, Vallader), spért m (Sursilvan)
- Russian: привиде́ние (ru) n (prividénije), при́зрак (ru) m (prízrak), фанто́м (ru) m (fantóm), дух (ru) m (dux)
- Sanskrit: भूत (sa) m (bhūta), प्रेत (sa) m (preta), वेताल (sa) m (vetāla), पिशाच (sa) m (piśāca)
- Santali: (please verify) ᱵᱷᱩᱛ (bhut)
- Sardinian: (please verify) pantùma m, (please verify) pantàsima m, (please verify) umbra f
- Scots: (please verify) ghaist, (please verify) phanton, (please verify) boodie, (please verify) bogle
- Scottish Gaelic: (please verify) sgàile f, (please verify) tannasg m, (please verify) taibhse m or f
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: ду̏х m, фа̀нто̄м m, привиђе́ње n, а́вет m, са̏бла̄ст m
- Latin: dȕh (sh) m, fàntōm (sh) m, priviđénje (sh) n, ávet (sh) m, sȁblāst (sh) m
- Slovak: duch (sk) m, prízrak m, zjavenie n, mátoha f, strašidlo n, fantóm
- Slovene: duh (sl) m, fantom m
- Sorbian:
- Lower Sorbian: tšašydło n, šarjenje n, wopokazowanje n
- Sotho: sethotsela, sepoko
- Spanish: fantasma (es) m, espectro (es) m, espíritu (es) m, aparecido (es) m, aparición (es) f, sombra (es) f, el alma f, pora (es) f
- Sranan Tongo: yorka, spuku
- Subanen:
- Lapuyan Subanun: gbisu'
- Sumerian: 𒆤 (/lil/), 𒋝𒋝 (/sisig/), 𒄇 (/gidim/)
- Sundanese: (please verify) jurig (su)
- Swahili: kivuli (sw) class 7/8, mzuka (sw) class 3/4, mzimu (sw) class 3/4
- Swedish: (please verify) spöke (sv) n, (please verify) spökbild, (please verify) fantom (sv) n, (please verify) ande (sv) c, (please verify) vålnad (sv), (please verify) gast (sv), (please verify) hamn (sv), (please verify) gengångare (sv), (please verify) dubbelgångare (sv), (please verify) skugga (sv), (please verify) draug (sv), (please verify) själ (sv)
- Tagalog: multo (tl), (please verify) aparisyon, (please verify) aswang, (please verify) pantasma
- Tajik: рӯҳ (rüh), хаёлат (xayolat), шабаҳ (tg) (šabah), сиёҳӣ (tg) (siyohi)
- Tamil: பேய் (pēy)
- Tatar: өрәк (tt) (öräk)
- Telugu: (please verify) దయ్యం (dayyaṁ), (please verify) ప్రేతాత్మ (te) (prētātma), (please verify) పిశాచి (te) (piśāci), (please verify) భూతం (te) (bhūtaṁ)
- Thai: ผี (th) (pǐi), ภูต (th) (pûut), ปิศาจ (th) (bpì-sàat), พราย (th) (praai)
- Tlingit: sʼig̱eeḵáawu
- Tok Pisin: tewel, tambaran, daiman
- Turkish: hayalet (tr), ruh (tr)
- Turkmen: arwah (tk)
- Tuvan: (please verify) дөргү (dörgü), (please verify) ора-сома (ora-soma), (please verify) хей чүве (xey çüve), (please verify) чиргилчин (çirgilçin), (please verify) сүнезин (sünezin)
- Ukrainian: при́вид m (prývyd), прима́ра (uk) f (prymára), мара́ (uk) f (mará), дух m (dux), фанто́м m (fantóm),
- Urdu: بُھوت m (bhūt), رُوح f (rūh), شَبَح m (śabah)
- Uzbek: ruh (uz), arvoh (uz)
- Venda: (please verify) tshirunzi
- Vietnamese: ma (vi), ma quỉ (vi), bóng ma (vi), ma (vi)
- Walloon: (please verify) spér (wa)
- Welsh: (please verify) bwgan, (please verify) ysbryd (cy) m
- Woiwurrung: murup, naRun
- Wolof: (please verify) dog (wo)
- Yao (Africa): (please verify) lisimwi, cilengwalengwa class 7
- Yiddish: גײַסט m (gayst), רוח (ruekh)
- Zulu: (please verify) poki
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faint shadowy semblance
- Catalan: ombra (ca)
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 幻象 (zh) (huànxiàng)
- Darkinjung: (please verify) buddhung
- Esperanto: fantomo, ombro (eo)
- Finnish: kangastus (fi), haamu (fi)
- Fon: please add this translation if you can
- French: please add this translation if you can
- Georgian: აჩრდილი (ačrdili)
- German: Schatten (de) m
- Greek: σκιά (el) f (skiá)
- Hawaiian: lapu
- Hindi: प्रेत m (pret), पिशाच (hi) m (piśāc), भूत (hi) m (bhūt)
- Hungarian: (please verify) árny (hu), (please verify) árnykép (hu), (please verify) árnyalak (hu)
- Ido: fantomo (io)
- Italian: ombra (it) f
- Kven: haamu
- Luhya: (please verify) bhisieno
- Malagasy: (please verify) lolo (mg)
- Portuguese: sombra (pt) f
- Scottish Gaelic: (please verify) sgàile f
- Spanish: sombra (es) f
- Swahili: (please verify) mizuka (sw), (please verify) jini (sw)
- Telugu: (please verify) దయ్యం (dayyaṁ), (please verify) ప్రేతాత్మ (te) (prētātma), (please verify) పిశాచి (te) (piśāci), (please verify) భూతం (te) (bhūtaṁ)
- Ukrainian: ма́рево n (márevo), мара́ (uk) f (mará), фанто́м m (fantóm)
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false image in an optical device false image on a television screen Translations to be checked
- Afrikaans: (please verify) spook, (please verify) gees (af), (please verify) fantoom, (please verify) klopgeeste, (please verify) skim, (please verify) siel (af)
- Algonquin: (please verify) tcpai
- Amharic: (please verify) ጣረሞት (ṭarämot)
- Andoque: (please verify) enfantome, (please verify) enfantesme, (please verify) enfanteime, (please verify) fantosme, (please verify) faintosme, (please verify) fantame, (please verify) fantasme, (please verify) fantaime, (please verify) fanthome, (please verify) fantome, (please verify) fantesme, (please verify) faunteme, (please verify) fauntesme, (please verify) fentosme, (please verify) espirit, (please verify) espirite, (please verify) espirist, (please verify) espirith, (please verify) espiritt, (please verify) espereit, (please verify) esperist, (please verify) esperit, (please verify) esperite, (please verify) esparit, (please verify) esprist, (please verify) esprit, (please verify) espriz, (please verify) espirt, (please verify) esperi, (please verify) spirit
- Assamese: (please verify) ভূত (bhut), (please verify) ভূতুনী (bhutuni), (please verify) অশৰীৰী (oxriri)
- Azerbaijani: (please verify) kabus, (please verify) xəyal (az), (please verify) kölgə (az), (please verify) qarabasma
- Belarusian: (please verify) сцень (scjenʹ)
- Cebuano: (please verify) kalag
- Corsican: (please verify) fantasma, (please verify) spettru, (please verify) spiritu, (please verify) spirdu, (please verify) murtulone, (please verify) mortulone, (please verify) visione, (please verify) anima (co), (please verify) ombra
- Cree: (please verify) cîpay
- Guarani:
- Paraguayan Guarani: (please verify) póra, (please verify) ánga (gn)
- Haitian Creole: (please verify) fantom
- Ilocano: (please verify) al-alia
- Ilongot: (please verify) kalag
- Interlingua: (please verify) phantasma, (please verify) spectro, (please verify) spirito, (please verify) anima, (please verify) apparition
- Macedonian: (please verify) духови (duhovi)
- Malagasy: (please verify) matoatoa (mg)
- Maricopa: (please verify) ʼish nyoym
- Mising: (please verify) ui
- Mongolian:
- Cyrillic: сүг (mn) (süg), хий үзэгдэл (xii üzegdel)
- Mongolian script: ᠰᠦᠭ (süg), ᠬᠡᠢ
ᠦᠵᠡᠭᠳᠡᠯ (keyi üǰegdel)
- Old English: (please verify) gāst (ang) , (please verify) cargāst , (please verify) dwimor, (please verify) egesgrīma , (please verify) dēofolscīn , (please verify) gliderung, (please verify) scinn, (please verify) scinna, (please verify) scinnhīw , (please verify) grīma , (please verify) becola, (please verify) becole
- O'odham: (2) (please verify) cukut
- Piedmontese: (please verify) carcaveja, (please verify) fantasma, (please verify) spetr, (please verify) spìrit
- Quechua: (please verify) kukuchi, (please verify) kuku, (please verify) manchachiku
- Romanian: (please verify) fantomă (ro), (please verify) stafie (ro), (please verify) duh (ro), (please verify) strigoi (ro), (please verify) spirit (ro)
- Scottish Gaelic: (please verify) tagradh, (please verify) taibhs, (please verify) taibhse, (please verify) tannas, (please verify) tannasg, (please verify) tàcharan, (please verify) fuathas
- Serbo-Croatian: (please verify) avet (sh), (please verify) duh (sh), (please verify) utvara (sh), (please verify) sablast (sh), (please verify) fantom (sh)
- Sorbian:
- Upper Sorbian: (please verify) šerjenje, (please verify) duch, (please verify) zjewjenje, (please verify) bobak
- Tatar: (please verify) öräk
- Turkmen: (please verify) arwah (tk)
- Ute: (i) (please verify) ɨ'nɨp
- Uzbek: (please verify) ajina (uz), (please verify) arvoh (uz)
- Venetan: (please verify) fantàsma, (please verify) spètro, (please verify) spìrito, (please verify) ànema (vec)
- Volapük: (please verify) späk (vo), (please verify) lan (vo)
- Welsh: (please verify) bwci m, (please verify) bwgan m, (please verify) drychiolaeth (cy) f, (please verify) ysbryd (cy) m
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See also
Adjective
ghost (not comparable)
- (African-American Vernacular, slang) In the form be ghost: not present or involved; absent, gone.
2007, Abiola Abrams, Dare, page 296:Thug held up a middle finger. "A'ight y'all. I'm ghost."
2019, “Going Through It” (track 6), in Ignorance Is Bliss, performed by Skepta:But I don't see no competition in the game and I'm pissing on it
If it ain't about the family, then I'm ghost and that's a promise
Translations
Verb
ghost (third-person singular simple present ghosts, present participle ghosting, simple past and past participle ghosted)
- (transitive)
- (literary, poetic)
- Of a disembodied soul: to appear (somewhere or to someone) in the form of an apparition; to haunt.
c. 1606–1607 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene vi], line 1221:since Julius Caesar, / Who at Philippi the good Brutus ghosted
- To imbue (something) with a ghost-like effect or hue.
1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 32:It spread slowly up from the sea-rim, a welling upwards of pure white light, ghosting the beach with silver and drawing the grey bastions of sandstone out of formless space.
- (by extension, figurative)
- To continuously cause (someone or something) trouble; specifically, to continuously be in the thoughts of (someone) in a disturbing manner; to perturb, to trouble.
- (slang) To kill (someone).
2000, Jim Wheat, Ken Wheat, David Twohy, Pitch Black (film):My recommendation: Do me. Don't take the chance that I'll get shiv-happy on your wannabe ass. Ghost me, Riddick. Would if I were you. Though I notice he tried to ghost my ass. When he shot up that stranger instead.
2004, Jim Wheat, Ken Wheat, David Twohy, The Chronicles of Riddick (film):He just ghosted two guys, and I never even saw him. Plan was to clean the bank, ghost the mercs, break wide through the tunnel.
2013, Jim Wheat, Ken Wheat, David Twohy, Riddick (film):This may come as a shock to you, Johns, but I didn't ghost your son. He seemed set on killin' himself. Diaz was gonna take the nodes for himself and ghost me. He was gonna leave you out here alone.
2017 September 28, Josh Corbin, 37:03 from the start, in Start Up, season 2, episode 6, spoken by Ronald Dacey (Edi Gathegi):RONALD: ”They tried to ghost your girl Isabel right here”. WES CHANDLER (played by Ron Perlman): ”Tried to ‘ghost’ her?” RONALD: ”Merk. 86. Put her down in the dirt. You feel me?”
- (computing)
- (graphical user interface) To gray out (a visual element) to indicate that it is unavailable.
1991, Amiga User Interface Style Guide, page 76:Whenever a menu or menu item is inappropriate or unavailable for selection, it should be ghosted. Never allow the user to select something that does nothing in response.
- (Internet) To forcibly disconnect (an IRC user) who is using one's reserved nickname.
2001, Luke, “to leave (vb.): Hurg [OT]”, in alt.games.lucas-arts.monkey-island (Usenet):I'm so untechnical that I once ghosted a registered IRC nick and then tried to identify myself to NickServ with the valid password before actually changing my nick to the aforementioned moniker.
- (chiefly social media, slang) 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.
2015 October 15, “Why is it so hard to go from chatting on Tinder to meeting up in real life?”, in The Guardian[5], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 24 August 2016:I've recently been trying out Tinder, and while I match with people and even chat with them everything seems to be going well, but whenever I bring up meeting IRL, they are quick to ghost me.
2016 March 21, Allison P. Davies, “What I Learned Tindering My Way Across Europe”, in Travel + Leisure[6], archived from the original on 6 January 2018:By 6 p.m., I had a list of restaurants to try from Hamish, a chef who couldn't meet, a follow-up from Adam ("I've never seen a room at the Ace...."), and an offer from Agoraphobic Paul to come over and "have a joint and a cuddle." I'd confirmed a walking tour of Greenwich from Max, who ghosted.
2017 September 26, Judith Duportail, “I asked Tinder for my data. It sent me 800 pages of my deepest, darkest secrets”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian[7], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 21 March 2018:Tinder knows me so well. It knows the real, inglorious version of me who copy-pasted the same joke to match 567, 568, and 569; who exchanged compulsively with 16 different people simultaneously one New Year's Day, and then ghosted 16 of them.
2018, Ling Ma, chapter 17, in Severance, →ISBN:He had texted, called, and emailed a bunch since then. I hadn't meant to ghost, but it was just easier not to deal with it.
- (chiefly UK, law enforcement) To transfer (a prisoner) to another prison, usually without first informing the prisoner.
2020, Jamie Bennett, Victoria Knight, Prisoners on Prison Films, page 26:His power base, however, is undermined by him being constantly, “ghosted”, or moved from prison to prison.
- 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.
- 1955, Saturday Review (volume 38, part 2, page 27)
- Here's how it went: Larry Parks as elderly Al Jolson was watching Larry Parks playing young Al Jolson in the first movie — in other words, Parks ghosting for Parks. At the same time, Jolson himself was ghosting the voices for both of them.
1999, The Golden Age of Musicals, page 50:One of the few performers to triumph over ghosting was Ava Gardner in Freed's Show Boat (1951). Not only does she lip-synch with breathtaking accuracy, her performance gives the cotton-candy production its only underpinning of realism.
2014 March 9, Elizabeth Day, “Is the LRB the best magazine in the world?”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian[8], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 17 October 2026:The current issue carries an extraordinary 26,000-word piece by Andrew O'Hagan on his failed attempt to ghost the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's memoir, which was trending on Twitter before copies even hit the news-stands.
- (intransitive)
- To appear suddenly or move like a disembodied soul; specifically (often sports); also (transitive, dated) followed by the dummy subject it: to move easily and quietly without anyone noticing; to slip.
2011 September 24, David Ornstein, “Arsenal 3 - 0 Bolton”, in BBC Sport[9], archived from the original on 28 November 2011:Arsenal came into the match under severe pressure and nerves were palpable early on as Pratley was brilliantly denied by Szczesny after ghosting in front of Kieran Gibbs
2011, Mark Harnden, In the Dark Backyard, →ISBN, page 59:At the flank of the main stage, I took root for an hour, until a female form ghosted in front of me that I recognised from university two years before.
2012, Ian Tregillis, Bitter Seeds, →ISBN:He ghosted through the door. It clanged a few seconds later as his pursuer pounded on it.
- 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.
- (nautical) Of a sailing vessel: to sail seemingly with very little or no wind.
2016, Nathanael Johnson, Unseen City, →ISBN, page 192:They move without any visible sign of movement, like a wakeless ship ghosting over the water.
- (obsolete) Apparently only in the writings of the Dutch-English physician Gideon Harvey (c. 1636–1640 – c. 1700–1702): to die, to expire.
Derived terms
Translations
( transitive) of a disembodied soul: to appear (somewhere or to someone) in the form of an apparition — see haunt(transitive) to imbue (something) with a ghost-like effect or hue ( transitive) to continuously cause (someone or something) trouble; to continuously be in the thoughts of (someone) in a disturbing manner — see perturb, trouble( transitive) to kill (someone) — see kill( transitive) to gray out (a visual element) to indicate that it is unavailable — see gray out(transitive) to forcibly disconnect (an IRC user) who is using one’s reserved nickname (transitive) to stop communicating with (someone) on social media, though text messages, etc., without explanation, especially as a way of ending a relationship; to end a relationship with (someone) by stopping all communication without explanation
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 弧 (zh) (hú), 已讀不回 / 已读不回 (yǐdúbùhuí), 玩消失 (wánxiāoshī)
- Finnish: lopettaa yhteydenpito, ghostata (slang)
- French: ghoster (fr)
- Georgian: გოსთავს (gostavs) (colloquial), დაგოსთავს (dagostavs) (colloquial)
- German: ghosten (de)
- Hungarian: (szó nélkül/nyomtalanul (hu)) ghostingol, ghostol, eltűnik (hu), felszívódik (hu), kámforrá válik, köddé válik (hu), lelép (hu)
- Italian: ghostare
- Malay: palau (ms) (slang)
- Polish: ghostować
- Portuguese: dar vácuo, deixar no vácuo
- Spanish: ghostear, cortar toda comunicación con, ignorar completa y repentinamente, descontactar
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(transitive) to transfer (a prisoner) to another prison, usually without first informing the prisoner ( transitive, intransitive) synonym of ghostwrite — see ghostwrite(transitive) to carry out (an artistic performance) in the place of someone; (intransitive) to carry out an artistic performance in the place of someone
- Finnish: sijaistaa (fi)
- French: please add this translation if you can
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(intransitive) to appear suddenly or move like a disembodied soul
- Finnish: kummitella (fi)
- French: please add this translation if you can
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( intransitive) to move easily and quietly without anyone noticing — see slip(intransitive) of a sailing vessel: to sail seemingly with very little or no wind References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Compare “ghost, n. and adj.”, in OED Online
 , Oxford: Oxford University Press, September 2025; “ghost, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
- ^ David Crystal (2012), Spell It Out: The Singular Story of English Spelling, London: Profile Books, →ISBN
- ^ “ghost, v.”, in OED Online , Oxford: Oxford University Press, March 2025; “ghost, v.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
- ^ Hernandez, Joe (22 October 2025), “The not-so-spooky origins of 'ghost' — and why the word still haunts our language”, in Word of the Week[1], NPR, archived from the original on 28 November 2025
- ^ Wells, J. C. (1982), Accents of English, volume 3 (Beyond the British Isles), Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 628
Further reading
Anagrams
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