plural ghosts
1
: the seat of life or intelligence : soul
give up the ghost
2
: a disembodied soul
especially
: the soul of a dead person believed to be an inhabitant of the unseen world or to appear to the living in bodily likeness
4
a
: a faint shadowy trace
a ghost of a smile
b
: the least bit
not a ghost of a chance
5
: a false image in a photographic negative or on a television screen caused especially by reflection
6
: one who ghostwrites
7
: a red blood cell that has lost its hemoglobin
ghosted; ghosting; ghosts
1
: to haunt like a ghost
2
: ghostwrite
ghosted the mayor's autobiography
3
informal
: to cut off all contact with (someone) abruptly and usually without explanation : to subject (someone, such as a former romantic partner) to ghosting (see ghosting sense 2)
No one wants to be ghosted, mostly because it sucks to admit that the person you gushed about last week is now pretending you don't exist …—
Ellen Scott
Ellen Scott1
a
: to move silently like a ghost
b
: to sail quietly in light winds
2
Synonyms of ghost
Examples of ghost in a Sentence
Noun
a house haunted by ghosts
looked for ghosts in the graveyard on Halloween
Verb
She ghosted the mayor's autobiography.
Recent Examples on the Web
Joe Otterson, Variety, 24 Mar. 2026
San Diego is where Pitino’s basketball ghosts, after hounding him for decades, were sent far away, perhaps for good.
—Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 Mar. 2026
Cassie Hurwitz, SELF, 24 Mar. 2026
Trump ghosted his health advisors.
—Literary Hub, 23 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for ghost
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Noun
In an interview for the Season 3 finale, Megan teased what fans can expect for Season 4 after [SPOILER ALERT] the barrier that keeps the ghosts on the Split River campus has disappeared.
—Joe Otterson, Variety, 24 Mar. 2026
San Diego is where Pitino’s basketball ghosts, after hounding him for decades, were sent far away, perhaps for good.
—Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 Mar. 2026
Verb
Morton says in her life, puffer-fishing manifests as ghosting or wanting to cut off communication as quickly as possible.
—Cassie Hurwitz, SELF, 24 Mar. 2026
Trump ghosted his health advisors.
—Literary Hub, 23 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for ghost
Cite this Entry
“Ghost.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ghost. Accessed 27 Mar. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
ghost
1 of 2 noun
: the soul of a dead person thought of as living in an unseen world or as appearing to living people
ghost
2 of 2 verb
ghosted; ghosting
1
: to haunt like a ghost
2
3
informal
: to cut off contact with (someone) abruptly and usually without explanation
Medical Definition
ghost
noun
: a structure (as a cell or tissue) that does not stain normally because of degenerative changes
specifically
: a red blood cell that has lost its hemoglobin
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Merriam-Webster unabridged
