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
The lights grow hazy, and the friends seem to see the ghostly images of their younger selves dancing alongside them.
—
Anna Russell, New Yorker, 2 Mar. 2026
But from the tomb of Philip’s father, Charles V, comes a booming ghostly voice, and Carlo is led away into darkness.
—Scott Cantrell, Dallas Morning News, 28 Feb. 2026
Though an occasional cellphone or refrigerator does make an appearance, Salvation takes place against an epic, timeless canvas, one filled with torchlit gatherings, solitary figures lurking in caves, and ghostly hallucinations.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 26 Feb. 2026
Cities far below the International Space Station (ISS) and stars far in the cosmic distance create ghostly trails of light in this long-exposure photograph from NASA astronaut Chris Williams.
—Brett Tingley, Space.com, 25 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for ghostly
Anna Russell, New Yorker, 2 Mar. 2026
But from the tomb of Philip’s father, Charles V, comes a booming ghostly voice, and Carlo is led away into darkness.
—Scott Cantrell, Dallas Morning News, 28 Feb. 2026
Though an occasional cellphone or refrigerator does make an appearance, Salvation takes place against an epic, timeless canvas, one filled with torchlit gatherings, solitary figures lurking in caves, and ghostly hallucinations.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 26 Feb. 2026
Cities far below the International Space Station (ISS) and stars far in the cosmic distance create ghostly trails of light in this long-exposure photograph from NASA astronaut Chris Williams.
—Brett Tingley, Space.com, 25 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for ghostly
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ghostly
Adjective
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Twenty years ago, critic Mark Fisher described Burial’s Untrue as a kind of sonic hauntology, a montage of fractured breakbeats, spectral vocal fragments, and crackle collapsing past and future into a single, diffuse texture.—
Keegan Brady,
Rolling Stone,
25 Mar. 2026
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And while the spectral profiles broadly fit, the observed temperatures and sheer brightness of LRDs hint at powerful winds that our current models for Supermassive Stars just don't fully capture yet.—
Paul Sutter,
Space.com,
23 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Having spent much of the phantom surplus on Medi-Cal expansion and other programs, the budget quickly developed chronic deficits.—
Dan Walters,
Mercury News,
27 Mar. 2026
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Then there's SpongeBob SquarePants, whose latest movie finds the iconic character venturing to the creepy Underworld with a dastardly phantom pirate.—
Brian Truitt,
USA Today,
20 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Ghostly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ghostly. Accessed 31 Mar. 2026.
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