adjective
ghostly
GOHST-lee
adjective
1
Resembling or suggestive of a ghost; eerie and pale.
"A ghostly figure seemed to glide across the misty field."
"The abandoned house had a ghostly silence about it."
How to Use Ghostly
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishHaving the eerie, pale, ghost-like quality of something spectral or haunting.
Common pairings
a ghostly glow
ghostly figure
ghostly silence
Word Forms
ghostlier comparative, ghostliest superlative
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Etymology
From Old English gastlic, "spiritual" — built from ghost plus the suffix -ly. It originally meant spiritual or holy before narrowing to its modern "spooky, spectral" sense.