as in spectral
of or relating to a ghost
A ghostly figure appears in the house at night.
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Recent Examples of ghostly
Keep an eye out for the ghostly Lady in White, who is said to roam the grounds.
—
Patricia Doherty, Travel + Leisure, 22 May 2026
Bryce Dallas Howard is getting ghostly.
—Aaron Couch, HollywoodReporter, 29 Apr. 2026
Sadie Benning and Michael Almereyda have found ghostly, evocative textures using Pixelvision, a Fisher-Price toy camera from the late 1980s.
—Dennis Lim, The New York Review of Books, 25 Apr. 2026
Visitors to the Old Idaho Penitentiary in Boise can explore a former prison with a history of escapes, crime and reported ghostly encounters.
—Nathan Diller, USA Today, 18 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for ghostly
Patricia Doherty, Travel + Leisure, 22 May 2026
Bryce Dallas Howard is getting ghostly.
—Aaron Couch, HollywoodReporter, 29 Apr. 2026
Sadie Benning and Michael Almereyda have found ghostly, evocative textures using Pixelvision, a Fisher-Price toy camera from the late 1980s.
—Dennis Lim, The New York Review of Books, 25 Apr. 2026
Visitors to the Old Idaho Penitentiary in Boise can explore a former prison with a history of escapes, crime and reported ghostly encounters.
—Nathan Diller, USA Today, 18 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for ghostly
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ghostly
Adjective
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The four-frame Death Comes to the Old Lady, shot the following year, shows a spectral form approaching an elderly woman in a rocking chair and spiriting her away.—
News Desk,
Artforum,
12 June 2026
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Each compound leaves behind a distinct spectral signature.—
Aamir Khollam,
Interesting Engineering,
12 June 2026
Adjective
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This can help you to cut electronics that would otherwise remain in standby mode, using phantom energy all day long.—
Timothy Dale,
Better Homes & Gardens,
11 June 2026
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If the system later discovered a phantom charge that nobody could document or explain, Princess needed to contact you before taking action.—
Christopher Elliott,
Mercury News,
8 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Ghostly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ghostly. Accessed 15 Jun. 2026.
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