Synonyms for ghost

Grammar : Noun

Spell : gohst

Phonetic Transcription : goʊst

Top 10 synonyms for ghost

Other synonyms for the word ghost

Définition of ghost

Origin : Old English gast "soul, spirit, life, breath; good or bad spirit, angel, demon," from Proto-Germanic *ghoizdoz (cf. Old Saxon gest, Old Frisian jest, Middle Dutch gheest, Dutch geest, German Geist "spirit, ghost"), from PIE root *gheis- "to be excited, amazed, frightened" (cf. Sanskrit hedah "wrath;" Avestan zaesha- "horrible, frightful;" Gothic usgaisjan, Old English gæstan "to frighten"). This was the usual West Germanic word for "supernatural being," and the primary sense seems to have been connected to the idea of "to wound, tear, pull to pieces." The surviving Old English senses, however, are in Christian writing, where it is used to render Latin spiritus, a sense preserved in Holy Ghost. Modern sense of "disembodied spirit of a dead person" is attested from late 14c. and returns the word toward its ancient sense.
Most Indo-European words for "soul, spirit" also double with reference to supernatural spirits. Many have a base sense of "appearance" (e.g. Greek phantasma; French spectre; Polish widmo, from Old Church Slavonic videti "to see;" Old English scin, Old High German giskin, originally "appearance, apparition," related to Old English scinan, Old High German skinan "to shine"). Other concepts are in French revenant, literally "returning" (from the other world), Old Norse aptr-ganga, literally "back-comer." Breton bugelnoz is literally "night-child." Latin manes probably is a euphemism.
The gh- spelling appeared early 15c. in Caxton, influenced by Flemish and Middle Dutch gheest, but was rare in English before mid-16c. Sense of "slight suggestion" (in ghost image, ghost of a chance, etc.) is first recorded 1610s; that in ghost writing is from 1884, but that term is not found until 1919. Ghost town is from 1908. To give up the ghost "die" was in Old English. Ghost in the machine was Gilbert Ryle's term (1949) for "the mind viewed as separate from the body."

noun spirit of the dead

Example sentences :

"Mr. Bines has seen a ghost," said the sharp-eyed Mrs. Drelmer.
Extract from : « The Spenders » by Harry Leon Wilson

A ghost of color was going up her throat, staining her cheeks.
Extract from : « Way of the Lawless » by Max Brand

Girls, do you remember the dinner we gave here after the ghost party?
Extract from : « Grace Harlowe's Return to Overton Campus » by Jessie Graham Flower

She looked as if she had seen a ghost—closed her eyes, even reeled.
Extract from : « K » by Mary Roberts Rinehart

"It is a blessing," said Renmark, with the ghost of a smile about his lips.
Extract from : « In the Midst of Alarms » by Robert Barr

I could only just gasp along the way you do in a dream when there's a ghost gaining on you.
Extract from : « Tom Sawyer Abroad » by Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)

"We thought you were dead," she remarked, still thinking that I might be a ghost after all.
Extract from : « Green Mansions » by W. H. Hudson

Resolutely he suppressed his sympathy for the ghost of Comrade Verloc, and went on.
Extract from : « The Secret Agent » by Joseph Conrad

Winnie lowered the window, and put her head out, white as a ghost.
Extract from : « The Secret Agent » by Joseph Conrad

It was like being told that the ghost of the dear departed is watching you.
Extract from : « A Woman Tenderfoot » by Grace Gallatin Seton-Thompson

Antonyms for ghost

Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019