i Register
In some senses, ghostly is marked as archaic. Watch for register when choosing this word.
ghostly
/ˈɡoʊstli/
adj 3
Collocations
4ADJ.
dark, pale
VERB + GHOSTLY
believe, doesn't, haunted, looked, ruined, see
GHOSTLY + NOUN
hitchhikers, priests
PREP.
in, with
Definitions
adj
1
Of or pertaining to ghosts or spirits.
a ghostly figure with a hood
The graveyard was haunted by a ghostly figure of a young girl.
2
Spooky; frightening.
A ghostly hush fell.
Scores of coconut-shell fires blazed with their characteristic glaring white flame, throwing grotesque shadows on the brown thatched huts, dancing in fairylike shimmerings among the domes of coconut fronds, casting ghostly reaches of light through the adjacent graveyards, and silhouetting the forms of pareu-clad natives at work cleaning their fish or laying them on the live coals to broil.
3
Relating to the soul; not carnal or secular; spiritual.
a ghostly confessor
Save and defend us from our ghostly enemies.
Thesaurus
Synonyms
adjective — resembling or characteristic of a phantom
- apparitional
- ghostlike
- phantasmal
- spectral
- spiritual
Antonyms
Idioms & Phrases
Example Bank
601
a ghostly figure with a hood
Wiktionary02
The graveyard was haunted by a ghostly figure of a young girl.
Wiktionary03
The ghostly moaning was heard from upstairs.
Wiktionary04
She looked ghostly.
Tatoeba · #31538105
Yanni's skin was ghostly pale.
Tatoeba · #1003025406
At the ruined altar ghostly priests officiated, passing quietly from side to side, with bows and genuflections.
Tatoeba · #11653467Usage Notes
Your note
not saved0 chars