ghost
Part of speech: adj
verb
Morphological type: simple
Topics: computing
engineering
government
graphical-user-interface
law-enforcement
mathematics
natural-sciences
nautical
physical-sciences
sciences
transport
Etymology: The noun is derived from Middle English gost, from Old English gāst, gǣst (“breath, spirit, soul, ghost”) (compare modern English Holy Ghost), from Proto-West Germanic *gaist, from Proto-Germanic *gaistaz, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰéysdos, from *ǵʰéysd- (“anger, agitation”).
The h in the spelling appears in the Prologue to William Caxton’s Royal Book, printed in 1484, in a reference to the “Holy Ghoost”. It was likely influenced by Middle Dutch gheest, a common variant of geest. Both Caxton and his assistant Wynkyn de Worde had connections to the Low Countries. Doublet of geist.
The adjective and verb are derived from the noun. The verb gained prominence in the 2010s.
cognates
* Danish gast (“ghost”), gejst (“enthusiasm”)
* Dutch geest (“ghost, spirit”)
* German Geist (“ghost, spirit”)
* Luxembourgish Geescht (“ghost, spirit, spectre, phantom”)
* Saterland Frisian Gäist, Jeest (“ghost, spirit”)
* Scots gaist, ghaist (“ghost”)
* Swedish gast (“ghost”)
* Vilamovian gȧjst (“ghost, spirit”)
* West Frisian geast (“ghost, spirit”)
* Yiddish גײַסט (gayst, “ghost, spirit”)
* Yola gaast (“ghost”)
Inflected forms:
form: ghosts
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: ghosting
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: ghosted
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: ghosted
pos: verb
tags: past
Senses:
gloss: In the form be ghost: not present or involved; absent, gone.
pos: adj
tags: not-comparable
slang
examples: Thug held up a middle finger. "A'ight y'all. I'm ghost."
But I don't see no competition in the game and I'm pissing on it
If it ain't about the family, then I'm ghost and that's a promise
gloss: Of a disembodied soul: to appear (somewhere or to someone) in the form of an apparition; to haunt.
pos: verb
tags: literary
poetic
transitive
examples: since Julius Caesar, / Who at Philippi the good Brutus ghosted
gloss: To imbue (something) with a ghost-like effect or hue.
pos: verb
tags: literary
poetic
transitive
examples: It spread slowly up from the sea-rim, a welling upwards of pure white light, ghosting the beach with silver and drawing the grey bastions of sandstone out of formless space.
gloss: To continuously cause (someone or something) trouble; specifically, to continuously be in the thoughts of (someone) in a disturbing manner; to perturb, to trouble.
pos: verb
tags: broadly
figuratively
transitive
gloss: To kill (someone).
pos: verb
tags: broadly
figuratively
slang
transitive
examples: My recommendation: Do me. Don't take the chance that I'll get shiv-happy on your wannabe ass. Ghost me, Riddick. Would if I were you. Though I notice he tried to ghost my ass. When he shot up that stranger instead.
He just ghosted two guys, and I never even saw him. Plan was to clean the bank, ghost the mercs, break wide through the tunnel.
This may come as a shock to you, Johns, but I didn't ghost your son. He seemed set on killin' himself. Diaz was gonna take the nodes for himself and ghost me. He was gonna leave you out here alone.
RONALD: ”They tried to ghost your girl Isabel right here”. WES CHANDLER (played by Ron Perlman): ”Tried to ‘ghost’ her?” RONALD: ”Merk. 86. Put her down in the dirt. You feel me?”
gloss: To gray out (a visual element) to indicate that it is unavailable.
pos: verb
tags: broadly
figuratively
transitive
examples: Whenever a menu or menu item is inappropriate or unavailable for selection, it should be ghosted. Never allow the user to select something that does nothing in response.
gloss: To forcibly disconnect (an IRC user) who is using one's reserved nickname.
pos: verb
tags: Internet
broadly
figuratively
transitive
examples: I'm so untechnical that I once ghosted a registered IRC nick and then tried to identify myself to NickServ with the valid password before actually changing my nick to the aforementioned moniker.
gloss: To stop communicating with (someone) on social media, through text messages, etc., without explanation, especially as a way of ending a relationship; hence, to end a relationship with (someone) by stopping all communication without explanation.
pos: verb
tags: broadly
figuratively
slang
transitive
examples: I've recently been trying out Tinder, and while I match with people and even chat with them everything seems to be going well, but whenever I bring up meeting IRL, they are quick to ghost me.
By 6 p.m., I had a list of restaurants to try from Hamish, a chef who couldn't meet, a follow-up from Adam ("I've never seen a room at the Ace...."), and an offer from Agoraphobic Paul to come over and "have a joint and a cuddle." I'd confirmed a walking tour of Greenwich from Max, who ghosted.
Tinder knows me so well. It knows the real, inglorious version of me who copy-pasted the same joke to match 567, 568, and 569; who exchanged compulsively with 16 different people simultaneously one New Year's Day, and then ghosted 16 of them.
He had texted, called, and emailed a bunch since then. I hadn't meant to ghost, but it was just easier not to deal with it.
gloss: To transfer (a prisoner) to another prison, usually without first informing the prisoner.
pos: verb
tags: UK
broadly
figuratively
transitive
examples: His power base, however, is undermined by him being constantly, “ghosted”, or moved from prison to prison.
gloss: Synonym of ghostwrite (“to write (a literary work or speech), or produce (an artistic work)), in the place of someone”); also, to carry out (an artistic performance) in the place of someone.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: Here's how it went: Larry Parks as elderly Al Jolson was watching Larry Parks playing young Al Jolson in the first movie — in other words, Parks ghosting for Parks. At the same time, Jolson himself was ghosting the voices for both of them.
Well, you wrote a few books, you wrote a famous play, and even that was half ghosted.
One of the few performers to triumph over ghosting was Ava Gardner in Freed's Show Boat (1951). Not only does she lip-synch with breathtaking accuracy, her performance gives the cotton-candy production its only underpinning of realism.
The current issue carries an extraordinary 26,000-word piece by Andrew O'Hagan on his failed attempt to ghost the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's memoir, which was trending on Twitter before copies even hit the news-stands.
gloss: To appear suddenly or move like a disembodied soul; specifically (often sports); also (transitive, dated) followed by the dummy subject it: to move easily and quietly without anyone noticing; to slip.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: Arsenal came into the match under severe pressure and nerves were palpable early on as Pratley was brilliantly denied by Szczesny after ghosting in front of Kieran Gibbs
At the flank of the main stage, I took root for an hour, until a female form ghosted in front of me that I recognised from university two years before.
He ghosted through the door. It clanged a few seconds later as his pursuer pounded on it.
gloss: Followed by for: synonym of ghostwrite (“to write a literary work or speech, or produce an artistic work, in the place of someone”); also, to carry out an artistic performance in the place of someone.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
gloss: Of a sailing vessel: to sail seemingly with very little or no wind.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: They move without any visible sign of movement, like a wakeless ship ghosting over the water.
gloss: Apparently only in the writings of the Dutch-English physician Gideon Harvey (c. 1636–1640 – c. 1700–1702): to die, to expire.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
obsolete
Derived words: ghoster
ghosting
Translations: