Ghast vs. Ghost — Which is Correct Spelling?
Edited by Fiza Rafique — By Tayyaba Rehman — Updated on April 16, 2024
Ghast is the incorrect spelling of ghost. Ghost means an apparition of a dead person believed to appear or become manifest to the living, typically as a nebulous image.
Table of Contents
Which is correct: Ghast or Ghost
How to spell Ghost?
Ghast
Incorrect Spelling
Ghost
Correct Spelling
ADVERTISEMENT
Key Differences
Think of ghost as similar to host, both sharing the ending "-ost" which can be a mnemonic aid.
Remember that ghost is linked to the word "ghastly" in meaning but maintains the "ost" ending specifically for the apparition.
The word ghost includes "ho" in the middle, helping you to visualize a hollow or empty form like a spirit.
How Do You Spell Ghost Correctly?
Incorrect: He claimed to see a ghast in the haunted house.
Correct: He claimed to see a ghost in the haunted house.
Incorrect: The children gathered around to hear the tale of the ghast of the old school.
Correct: The children gathered around to hear the tale of the ghost of the old school.
ADVERTISEMENT
Incorrect: He felt a chill every time he spoke of the ghast he had seen.
Correct: He felt a chill every time he spoke of the ghost he had seen.
Incorrect: She was frightened by the stories of the ghast that roamed the old castle.
Correct: She was frightened by the stories of the ghost that roamed the old castle.
Incorrect: They made a ghast costume for Halloween.
Correct: They made a ghost costume for Halloween.
Ghost Definitions
A distant or barely perceptible presence.
There was a ghost of a smile on her face during the performance.
An underlying or implied presence or influence.
The ghost of past mistakes haunted him during the project.
In computing, an image or file that is a duplicate of the original.
They created a ghost of the hard drive for backup purposes.
In folklore, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that can appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to realistic, lifelike forms.
An apparition of a dead person which is believed to appear or become manifest to the living, typically as a nebulous image
A ghost ship
The building is haunted by the ghost of a monk
Act as ghostwriter of (a work)
His memoirs were smoothly ghosted by a journalist
Glide smoothly and effortlessly
They ghosted up the river
End a personal relationship with (someone) by suddenly and without explanation withdrawing from all communication
I didn't want to ghost her, so we ended up having ‘the talk’ and it was horrible
People who ghost are primarily focused on avoiding their own emotional discomfort
Being ghosted is one of the toughest ways to be dumped
The spirit of a dead person, especially one that is believed to appear to the living in bodily form or to haunt specific locations.
A person's spirit or soul
Was sick for months and finally gave up the ghost.
A returning or haunting memory or image.
A slight or faint trace
Just a ghost of a smile.
The tiniest bit
Not a ghost of a chance.
An unwanted image on a television or radar screen caused by reflected waves.
A displaced image in a photograph caused by the optical system of the camera.
An unwanted spectral line caused by imperfections in a diffraction grating.
A displaced image in a mirror caused by reflection from the front of the glass.
(Informal) A ghostwriter.
A nonexistent publication listed in bibliographies.
A fictitious employee or business.
(Physiology) A red blood cell having no hemoglobin.
(Informal) To engage in ghostwriting.
To move noiselessly like a ghost
“Two young deer ghosted out of the woods” (Nancy M. Debevoise).
(Informal) To cut off all communication with someone, especially a romantic or sexual partner, without providing an explanation
Ghosted on him after two dates.
To haunt.
(Informal) To ghostwrite
Was hired to ghost the memoirs of a famous executive.
(Informal) To cut off all communication with (someone), especially a romantic or sexual partner, without providing an explanation
“In some point in nearly every young millennial's life, they will be ghosted. And not by sad dead bodies from the graveyard, but by idiot living ones from the Internet” (Heather Dockray).
The spirit; the human soul.
The disembodied soul; the soul or spirit of a deceased person; a spirit appearing after death.
Everyone believed that the ghost of an old lady haunted the crypt.
Any faint shadowy semblance; an unsubstantial image.
Not a ghost of a chance
The ghost of an idea
A false image formed in a telescope, camera, or other optical device by reflection from the surfaces of one or more lenses.
An unwanted image similar to and overlapping or adjacent to the main one on a television screen, caused by the transmitted image being received both directly and via reflection.
A ghostwriter.
A nonexistent person invented to obtain some fraudulent benefit.
A dead person whose identity is stolen by another. See ghosting.
(Internet) An unresponsive user on IRC, resulting from the user's client disconnecting without notifying the server.
(computing) An image of a file or hard disk.
(theatre) An understudy.
(espionage) A covert (and deniable) agent.
The faint image that remains after an attempt to remove graffiti.
(video games) An opponent in a racing game that follows a previously recorded route, allowing players to compete against previous best times.
Someone whose identity cannot be established because there are no records of him/her.
(quantum physics) An unphysical state in a gauge theory.
A formerly nonexistent character that was at some point mistakenly encoded into a character set standard, which might have since become used opportunistically for some genuine purpose.
(countable) ghost pepper
(uncountable) A game in which players take turns to add a letter to a possible word, trying not to complete a word.
White or pale.
Ghost slug
Transparent or translucent.
Ghost ant
Ghost catfish
(attributive) Abandoned.
Ghost town
Ghost ship
(attributive) Remnant; the remains of a(n).
Ghost cell
Ghost crater
Ghost image
(attributive) Perceived or listed but not real.
Ghost cellphone vibration
Ghost pain
Ghost island
Ghost voter
(attributive) Of cryptid, supernatural or extraterrestrial nature.
Ghost rocket
Ghost deer
(attributive) Substitute.
Ghost writer
Ghost singer
To haunt; to appear to in the form of an apparition.
(obsolete) To die; to expire.
(literary) To imbue with a ghost-like hue or effect.
(ambitransitive) To ghostwrite.
(nautical) To sail seemingly without wind.
(computing) To copy a file or hard drive image.
(GUI) To gray out (a visual item) to indicate that it is unavailable.
To forcibly disconnect an IRC user who is using one's reserved nickname.
(intransitive) To appear or move without warning, quickly and quietly; to slip.
(transitive) To transfer (a prisoner) to another prison without the prior knowledge of other inmates.
(slang) To kill.
To perform an act of ghosting: to break up with someone without warning or explanation; to ignore someone, especially on social media.
(film) To provide the speaking or singing voice for another actor, who is lip-syncing.
The spirit; the soul of man.
Then gives her grieved ghost thus to lament.
The disembodied soul; the soul or spirit of a deceased person; a spirit appearing after death; an apparition; a specter.
The mighty ghosts of our great Harrys rose.
I thought that I had died in sleep,And was a blessed ghost.
Any faint shadowy semblance; an unsubstantial image; a phantom; a glimmering; as, not a ghost of a chance; the ghost of an idea.
Each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
A false image formed in a telescope by reflection from the surfaces of one or more lenses.
And he gave up the ghost full softly.
Jacob . . . yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people
To die; to expire.
To appear to or haunt in the form of an apparition.
A mental representation of some haunting experience;
He looked like he had seen a ghost
It aroused specters from his past
A writer who gives the credit of authorship to someone else
The visible disembodied soul of a dead person
A suggestion of some quality;
There was a touch of sarcasm in his tone
He detected a ghost of a smile on her face
Move like a ghost;
The masked men ghosted across the moonlit yard
Haunt like a ghost; pursue;
Fear of illness haunts her
Write for someone else;
How many books have you ghostwritten so far?
An apparition of a deceased person that is believed to appear to the living.
The old mansion is famous for the ghost that appears in the ballroom.
A faint or shadowy trace of something.
He’s a ghost of his former self since the accident.
Ghost Meaning in a Sentence
He claimed he could feel the presence of a ghost in the room.
The ghost seemed to linger by the old fireplace.
The ghost of the lady in white is said to roam these halls.
She thought she saw a ghost in the mirror late at night.
They staged a ghost hunt at the abandoned hospital.
Children love telling ghost stories during sleepovers.
They used a ouija board to try and contact the ghost.
Every Halloween, the ghost stories become the highlight of the evening.
He wrote a book about the most famous ghost sightings in history.
The ghost appeared at the stroke of midnight.
Some believe that the ghost is searching for her lost love.
She played a ghost in the school play.
Visitors often felt like a ghost was watching them in the museum.
The tour guide shared chilling tales of a ghost that haunted the old lighthouse.
The ghost was often seen weeping near the old tree.
The legend of the ghost attracted many curious tourists.
The ghost sightings were reported more frequently during the cold months.
The ghost had been seen by multiple residents of the village.
Local folklore is rich with ghost legends.
They made a documentary about the ghost that haunted the historic inn.
The ghost story had been passed down through generations.
He felt like a ghost wandering through the streets of his old hometown.
The ghost was said to protect the treasure hidden in the mansion.
Ghost Idioms & Phrases
Give up the ghost
To stop working or to die.
After years of service, my old car finally gave up the ghost.
Ghost town
An abandoned and deserted town.
The mining community turned into a ghost town after the gold ran out.
Ghost of a chance
Very little chance.
He has only a ghost of a chance of winning the race.
Ghost writer
Someone who writes for another person anonymously.
The celebrity’s autobiography was penned by a ghost writer.
Ghost image
A faint duplicate image on a display or photograph.
The old monitor displayed a ghost image that was distracting.
Ghost in the machine
A reference to unexplained occurrences in technology.
The software glitch was like a ghost in the machine.
Like a ghost
To move silently or unseen.
He moved through the office like a ghost, avoiding interaction.
Turn into a ghost
To become very pale, usually because of fear.
She turned into a ghost when she heard the strange noises.
Lay the ghost to rest
To put an end to a rumor or an issue.
The report was meant to lay the ghost of the scandal to rest.
Ghost from the past
A person from one’s past that unexpectedly reappears.
Running into my high school sweetheart was like seeing a ghost from the past.
Ghost at the feast
An unwanted or unacknowledged presence.
His bitter attitude made him the ghost at the feast.
Not have a ghost of a chance
To have no chance at all.
They don’t have a ghost of a chance in the competition.
Be haunted by the ghost of
To be continually troubled or overshadowed by something.
He was haunted by the ghost of his former failures.
As white as a ghost
Extremely pale, typically from shock or fear.
She was as white as a ghost after seeing the spider.
A ghost of oneself
To look like a fainter, weaker version of oneself.
After the illness, he was a ghost of himself.
The ghost knows
A way to say that no one really knows.
Who can predict the weather? The ghost knows.
Common Curiosities
How is ghost used in a sentence?
Ghost is used as a noun to describe the spirit of a deceased person or as a verb meaning to suddenly cut off all communication with someone.
How do we divide ghost into syllables?
Ghost is a single-syllable word and is not divided further.
What is the root word of ghost?
The root word of ghost is the Old English gast.
What is the verb form of ghost?
The verb form of ghost is the same, ghost, as in "He ghosted her after two dates".
What is the pronunciation of ghost?
Ghost is pronounced as /ɡoʊst/.
What part of speech is ghost?
Ghost can be used as both a noun and a verb.
What is another term for ghost?
Another term for ghost is "specter" or "phantom".
What is a stressed syllable in ghost?
The only syllable in ghost is stressed.
What is the first form of ghost?
The first form of ghost as a verb is ghost.
What is the singular form of ghost?
The singular form is ghost.
Why is it called ghost?
The term ghost comes from the Old English gast, which means "spirit" or "soul".
How many syllables are in ghost?
Ghost has one syllable.
What is the third form of ghost?
The third form of ghost as a verb is also ghosted.
What is the opposite of ghost?
The opposite of ghost might be considered "corporeal" or "tangible".
Is the word ghost Gerund?
Yes, the gerund form of ghost is ghosting.
Which determiner is used with ghost?
Determiners such as "a", "the", "that", and "those" can be used with ghost, depending on the context.
Is ghost an adverb?
No, ghost is not an adverb.
Is ghost an abstract noun?
Yes, ghost as a noun represents an intangible entity, thus it is abstract.
Is the word ghost imperative?
As a verb, ghost can be used in an imperative form, such as "Don't ghost your friends".
Is the word “ghost” a Direct object or an Indirect object?
Ghost can be a direct object in sentences like "I saw a ghost".
Which vowel is used before ghost?
The vowel used before ghost can vary, such as in "a ghost" or "an infamous ghost".
Which conjunction is used with ghost?
Conjunctions like "and", "but", and "or" can be used with ghost, depending on the sentence structure.
What is the second form of ghost?
The second form of ghost as a verb is ghosted.
Is ghost a collective noun?
No, ghost is not a collective noun.
Is the ghost term a metaphor?
Ghost can be used metaphorically to describe someone with a pale, faint, or barely there presence.
Which article is used with ghost?
The definite article "the" or the indefinite article "a" can be used with ghost, e.g., "the ghost of the house" or "a ghost appeared".
What is the plural form of ghost?
The plural form is ghosts.
Is ghost a noun or adjective?
Ghost is primarily a noun but can also be used as a verb.
Is ghost a negative or positive word?
Ghost typically has a neutral connotation but can be negative depending on the context of its usage.
Is ghost a vowel or consonant?
The word ghost starts with a consonant.
Is ghost a countable noun?
Yes, ghost is countable, as in "There are several ghosts in that haunted house".
Which preposition is used with ghost?
Common prepositions used with ghost include "of", as in "ghost of his past", and "in", as in "believe in ghosts".
Share Your Discovery
Previous Comparison
Enlargen vs. Enlarge
Next Comparison
Scary vs. ScareyAuthor Spotlight
Written by
Tayyaba RehmanTayyaba Rehman is a distinguished writer, currently serving as a primary contributor to askdifference.com. As a researcher in semantics and etymology, Tayyaba's passion for the complexity of languages and their distinctions has found a perfect home on the platform. Tayyaba delves into the intricacies of language, distinguishing between commonly confused words and phrases, thereby providing clarity for readers worldwide.
Edited by
Fiza RafiqueFiza Rafique is a skilled content writer at AskDifference.com, where she meticulously refines and enhances written pieces. Drawing from her vast editorial expertise, Fiza ensures clarity, accuracy, and precision in every article. Passionate about language, she continually seeks to elevate the quality of content for readers worldwide.
