1
as in spirits
the soul of a dead person thought of especially as appearing to living people
looked for ghosts in the graveyard on Halloween
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
2
as in damns
the smallest amount or part imaginable
she may be a good endurance runner, but she doesn't stand a ghost of a chance of winning in a sprint
Synonyms & Similar Words
3
as in relics
a tiny often physical indication of something lost or vanished
the down-at-the-heels town house is but a ghost of the neighborhood's former grandeur
Synonyms & Similar Words
4
as in demons
an evil spirit
the vengeful ghosts of seamen who were deliberately shipwrecked upon these shores
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of ghosts
Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 25 Oct. 2025
Our resident puck-heads have always had a sweet spot for the old World Hockey Association and its myriad of ghosts.
—Sean Keeler, Denver Post, 25 Oct. 2025
One New York Times story from 1937 described the popular costumes as paper-based — King Winter and ghosts for adults; ducks, squirrels, and foxes for kids.
—Mark Dent, HubSpot, 24 Oct. 2025
Pitting vengeful ghosts against a backdrop of a supernatural love story, the film charmingly plays with genre to question how history and myth can probe collective and socio-political grief.
—Christian Blauvelt, IndieWire, 24 Oct. 2025
More than just ghosts and gouls As an adult, my greatest hope was that the celebrations reminded me of the magic of my childhood.
—Sam Woodward, USA Today, 24 Oct. 2025
When 100-year-old Buxley Hall suffers financially and begins allowing girls into the previously-boys-only academy, the school's ghosts let their disapproval be known.
—Catherine Santino, PEOPLE, 23 Oct. 2025
Hidden in the outskirts of downtown Stillwater, visitors can hunt down the haunted history and ghosts of the Warden’s House Museum.
—Sophia Arndt, Twin Cities, 19 Oct. 2025
Scatter candy pumpkins and ghosts onto cake as desired.
—Ann Taylor Pittman, Southern Living, 18 Oct. 2025
Verb
Their story lines are connected by the Talamasca, a secret society that keeps tabs on the world’s vampires, witches, ghosts, and demons, like archivists and librarians trained in combat and engaged in spycraft.
—Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 25 Oct. 2025
Our resident puck-heads have always had a sweet spot for the old World Hockey Association and its myriad of ghosts.
—Sean Keeler, Denver Post, 25 Oct. 2025
One New York Times story from 1937 described the popular costumes as paper-based — King Winter and ghosts for adults; ducks, squirrels, and foxes for kids.
—Mark Dent, HubSpot, 24 Oct. 2025
Pitting vengeful ghosts against a backdrop of a supernatural love story, the film charmingly plays with genre to question how history and myth can probe collective and socio-political grief.
—Christian Blauvelt, IndieWire, 24 Oct. 2025
More than just ghosts and gouls As an adult, my greatest hope was that the celebrations reminded me of the magic of my childhood.
—Sam Woodward, USA Today, 24 Oct. 2025
When 100-year-old Buxley Hall suffers financially and begins allowing girls into the previously-boys-only academy, the school's ghosts let their disapproval be known.
—Catherine Santino, PEOPLE, 23 Oct. 2025
Hidden in the outskirts of downtown Stillwater, visitors can hunt down the haunted history and ghosts of the Warden’s House Museum.
—Sophia Arndt, Twin Cities, 19 Oct. 2025
Scatter candy pumpkins and ghosts onto cake as desired.
—Ann Taylor Pittman, Southern Living, 18 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ghosts
Noun
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For bones, spirits, and some menacing dolls, here’s where to go for a fright.—
Sophie Friedman,
AFAR Media,
22 Oct. 2025
-
Budj Bim assigned the weeping she-oak (Casuarina) trees, whose whispering voices can be heard in the wind, to be the guardian spirits of the landscape.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
22 Oct. 2025
Noun
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These once-humble activities are reclaiming their place not as quaint relics, but as powerful tools for well-being.—
Alesandra Dubin,
Southern Living,
21 Oct. 2025
-
The Louvre houses over 33,000 works spanning antiquities, sculpture, and painting — from Mesopotamian artifacts and Egyptian relics to masterpieces by European artists.—
Stephen Sorace,
FOXNews.com,
19 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Based on the book series The Mortal Instruments, the Freeform series follows a girl (Katherine McNamara) who descends from a long line of human-angel hybrids who hunt down demons.—
Kelsie Gibson,
PEOPLE,
23 Oct. 2025
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Red must face his demons and pick up the bottle one last time to take down the monster and save his town for good.—
Melanie Goodfellow,
Deadline,
23 Oct. 2025
Noun
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In Good Boy, Indy investigates strange noises and ghostly apparitions in the remote country house.—
Laura Martin,
Vulture,
6 Oct. 2025
-
In winter, breath crystallizes in the air, and the animals resemble pale apparitions in an otherworldly landscape of snow and ice.—
Susan Portnoy,
AFAR Media,
3 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Another young man, presumably X2, sits in the shadows nearby.—
David Kushner,
Rolling Stone,
20 Oct. 2025
-
If built, the tower threatens to cast his 1865 house largely in the shadows for months at a time.—
John Aguilar,
Denver Post,
19 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Following psychic researchers in search of spirits in a New England house with a tragic past, The Haunting trades leering ghouls and jump scares for atmosphere and suggestion, cultivating a cloud of dread that hangs like a heavy blanket over audiences.—
Randall Colburn,
Entertainment Weekly,
18 Oct. 2025
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Jack-o-lanterns, ghouls and goblins are around every corner, but the scariest creatures of all might be thousands of feet below the ocean’s surface.—
Irene Wright,
Miami Herald,
13 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Adding the killer’s voice just pads an already too-long book.—
Maren Longbella,
Boston Herald,
19 Oct. 2025
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Not to say there aren’t some clunkers, most notably a jokey take-me-out-to-the-ballgame baseball number that pads the second act, but the Flaherty-Ahrens score was and is Ragtime‘s signature achievement.—
Greg Evans,
Deadline,
16 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Understanding neutrinos’ properties could help explain how how the universe formed, how stars evolve and whether neutrinos, which pass through the Earth and even our bodies like phantoms, are their own antiparticles.—
Georgina Jedikovska,
Interesting Engineering,
8 Oct. 2025
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Because contemporary phantoms of Richard Mille, Patek Philippe, and Rolex are expertly constructed to entice even the most discerning eye, provenance is crucial.—
Connie Etemadi,
USA Today,
11 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Ghosts.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ghosts. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.
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