Synonyms for ghost
Synonyms by meaning
Noun
1. Spectre — A disembodied soul; a soul or spirit of a deceased person; a spirit appearing after death
spectre UK, specter US, phantom, apparition, wraith, revenant, sprite, shade formal, boogie, vision, hobgoblin
2. Hint — any faint shadowy semblance; an unsubstantial image
hint, glimmer, spark, glimpse, suggestion, glimmering, inkling
Definitions
- n. 1
A disembodied soul; a soul or spirit of a deceased person; a spirit appearing after death.
Everyone believed that the ghost of an old lady haunted the crypt.
- n. 2
Any faint shadowy semblance; an unsubstantial image.
- n. 3
A covert (and deniable) agent.
- n. 4
A false image, for example in a photographic print or negative, or on a television screen or radar display, or in a telescope, caused by poor or double reception or reflection (from a lens or screen).
Related words
- Word family
- ghostball ghostban ghostfish ghostish ghostlike ghostly ghostweed ghoul
- Phrases
- ghost language ghost marriage ghost call ghost car ghost gum ghost island ghost kitchen ghost pepper
- Is a kind of
- being entity spirit presence
Forms
- Plural
- ghosts → spectres, phantoms, apparitions, wraiths…
Example sentences
- phantom The Phantom slowly, gravely, silently, approached.
- spectre A spectre haunts Europe: the spectre of communism.
- apparition Dreadful apparition, why do you trouble me?
- spark The science is there, what's missing is the spark.
- glimpse I caught a glimpse of him as he turned the corner.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| ghost | rising | |
| phantom | rising | |
| spectre | steady | |
| wraith | rising | |
| apparition | rising | |
| spark | steady |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 3 letters
- spy1
- 4 letters
- soul1, hint1, echo2
- 5 letters
- touch1, shade1, trace1, spark1, spook1, anima
- 6 letters
- spirit2, vision2, shadow2, backup2, boogie2, sprite1, wraith
- 7 letters
- essence2, phantom2, glimpse1, spectre2, specter2, glimmer2, inkling2
- 8 letters
- revenant
- 9 letters
- surrogate3, hobgoblin
- 10 letters
- suggestion3, substitute3, apparition4, glimmering3
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (echo2 = 2 syllables).