as in spectral
of or relating to a ghost
A ghostly figure appears in the house at night.
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Recent Examples of ghostly
That, of course, and the occasional ghostly presences, unsettling cries, and blood dripping from the ceiling.
—
David Fear, Rolling Stone, 10 Apr. 2026
Avery Sullivan, with whom Morris also plays in the country-rock band Fust, keeps loose time on drums, tapping the snare like someone setting down coffee mugs while Libby Rodenbough scrapes out a few melody lines on her fiddle and colors empty spaces with some ghostly tremolo.
—Jayson Greene, Pitchfork, 1 Apr. 2026
When ghostly figures appear, domestic absurdity spirals in this offbeat, comic, and charming portrait of family life.
—Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 1 Apr. 2026
Adapted from Algernon Blackwood’s supernatural novella, The Man Whom the Trees Loved is a ghostly tale of the inexplicable horrors of nature.
—Matthew Carey, Deadline, 31 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for ghostly
David Fear, Rolling Stone, 10 Apr. 2026
Avery Sullivan, with whom Morris also plays in the country-rock band Fust, keeps loose time on drums, tapping the snare like someone setting down coffee mugs while Libby Rodenbough scrapes out a few melody lines on her fiddle and colors empty spaces with some ghostly tremolo.
—Jayson Greene, Pitchfork, 1 Apr. 2026
When ghostly figures appear, domestic absurdity spirals in this offbeat, comic, and charming portrait of family life.
—Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 1 Apr. 2026
Adapted from Algernon Blackwood’s supernatural novella, The Man Whom the Trees Loved is a ghostly tale of the inexplicable horrors of nature.
—Matthew Carey, Deadline, 31 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for ghostly
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ghostly
Adjective
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Across this soppy set of songs, the sum of these frictions is cyborgish and spectral, music from a MacBook whose dying wish was to see the world.—
Samuel Hyland,
Pitchfork,
15 Apr. 2026
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In the photographs taken that day, Bruce has a spectral beauty, as if conjured out of the air.—
Andrew Durbin,
Vulture,
13 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
These phantom costs drive up annual premiums.—
Jordan Bruneau,
Boston Herald,
25 Apr. 2026
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Developers routinely file speculative interconnection requests for projects that never get built, flooding queues with phantom demand.—
Tejasri Gururaj,
Interesting Engineering,
24 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Ghostly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ghostly. Accessed 1 May. 2026.
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