What does ghostlike mean?
Ghostlike is an adjective meaning resembling a ghost. It describes a person, figure, movement, sound, place, or atmosphere that seems spectral, eerie, unreal, or insubstantial. The word is especially effective when ordinary perception is disturbed: a figure may be ghostlike because it is pale and silent, a presence may seem ghostlike because it is barely perceptible, or an entire scene may have a ghostlike quality. In literary and descriptive contexts, ghostlike can also suggest emotional detachment, as though someone is disconnected from the world around them. It is not usually used for a confirmed supernatural being; rather, it compares something visible or perceptible to the imagined appearance or presence of a ghost. The term is common in both British and American English, though its strongest associations are with formal prose, poetry, horror, and atmospheric description.
adjectiveResembling a ghost, especially in appearance, behavior, or manner. It can describe something eerie, spectral, pale, insubstantial, or strangely unreal.
- Resembling a ghost in appearance, behavior, sound, or atmosphere.
"Her ghostlike figure appeared at the end of the corridor and then vanished without a sound."
"The abandoned house had a ghostlike stillness that made the children fall silent."
"She moved through the crowd with a ghostlike anonymity, unnoticed by everyone around her."
Ghostlike captures the unsettling moment when something visible feels unreal, as if it belongs to a dream or a half-remembered story.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of ghostlike
Ghostlike is an English compound formed from ghost and the suffix-like, meaning resembling or having the nature of. Ghost itself comes from Old English gāst, an Old Germanic word for a spirit or apparition, while -like is related to Old English līc, meaning body, form, or likeness. The compound follows the productive English pattern of joining a noun with -like, as in lifelike and childlike. Its relatives such as ghostly, ghostless, and ghostwrite share the older ghost element, although each has a different grammatical and semantic function.
Related word forms
How ghostlike is actually used
Ghostlike is literary and descriptive rather than everyday. It is often used for people, figures, sounds, movements, and atmospheres, and it commonly conveys eeriness, unreality, or emotional distance rather than a literal supernatural identity.
Easily confused with ghostlike
Ghostly is a close synonym, while ghostlike more explicitly describes a resemblance to a ghost in appearance, movement, or atmosphere.