ghostly

ghostly — adjective

1. having a pale, thin, or see-through appearance so that someone or something look

1.adjectiveB2
Definition

having a pale, thin, or see-through appearance so that someone or something looks like a ghost and does not seem fully real

Example

Lien's face had a ghostly whiteness after her long stay in the hospital.

collocation: ghostly whiteness / ghostly paleness

A ghostly light shone through the fog as the ship passed the old lighthouse.

collocation: ghostly light

Common collocations
  • ghostly figure
  • ghostly white
  • ghostly pale
  • ghostly appearance
  • ghostly shape
  • ghostly light
  • ghostly mist
Synonyms
  • spectral

    more formal and technical; often used in scientific or literary contexts to describe something that looks like a ghost

  • pale

    simpler and more common; only covers the colour aspect, not the transparent or unreal quality

  • eerie

    focuses on the feeling of fear or unease rather than a specific visual appearance

Antonyms
  • solid

    firm and clearly real, the opposite of transparent and unreal

  • vivid

    bright, strong, and clear in colour — the opposite of pale

Grammar Patterns

ghostly + noun (figure, light, face, shape)

be + ghostly

Usage Note

Commonly used with visual nouns: a person's face or skin, light, figure, shape, shadow, or mist. The sense always carries a suggestion that the thing looks unreal or unnatural.

Common Mistakes

We stayed in a ghostly old hotel by the sea.
We stayed in a creepy old hotel by the sea.
ghostly describes a visual quality (pale, see-through), not the general atmosphere of a place; use 'creepy' or 'haunted' instead.
His ghostly voice told us scary stories.
His voice was low and spooky as he told us scary stories.
ghostly for a voice refers to faintness (sense 2), not scariness.

2. so quiet, distant, or broken up that it is hard to hear clearly — used for sound

2.adjectiveB2
Definition

so quiet, distant, or broken up that it is hard to hear clearly — used for sounds such as voices, whispers, echoes, or music

Example

From the next room came a ghostly whisper that Adina could not understand.

pattern: ghostly + whisper / voice / sound

The old radio picked up a ghostly voice that faded in and out of range.

Common collocations
  • ghostly voice
  • ghostly whisper
  • ghostly sound
  • ghostly echo
  • ghostly music
Synonyms
  • faint

    more common and general; can describe any quiet sound without the supernatural connotation

  • muffled

    describes a sound blocked by something (a wall, a door) rather than naturally distant

  • indistinct

    focuses on the lack of clarity rather than the low volume

Antonyms
  • clear

    easy to hear every part of the sound

  • loud

    strong enough in volume to hear without effort

Grammar Patterns

ghostly + noun (voice, whisper, sound, echo, music)

Usage Note

Only used for sounds. Can describe a voice that is barely audible, a radio signal that breaks up, or distant music. Not used for sounds that are loud but scary — use 'eerie' or 'spooky' for that.

Common Mistakes

The ghostly music was very loud at the concert.
Ghostly music came from the old radio across the room.
ghostly describes faintness, not scariness or supernatural content.

Word family

  • ghost
    nounA2
  • ghostlike
    adjectiveC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

Ghostly, spectral, eerie, pale, and spooky all connect to fear or the supernatural, but they describe different things. Ghostly focuses on a visual quality — something looks thin, white, and see-through like a ghost ("a ghostly face at the window"). Spectral is the most formal and technical; it appears in scientific writing about light and vision or in literary descriptions of apparitions. Eerie describes a feeling of unease — a place or situation that makes you uncomfortable without a clear reason ("an eerie silence before the storm"). Pale simply means light in colour, especially of skin, without any supernatural meaning ("she looked pale after the long flight"). Spooky is informal and light-hearted, used when something is a little frightening but in a fun, playful way, like a Halloween story.

ghostly ↗spectral ↗eeriepale ↗spooky ↗

Common collocations

Phrases

  • look ghostly
  • appear ghostly
  • sound ghostly

Etymology

Proto-GermanicOld EnglishMiddle EnglishEnglish

Ghostly comes from Old English gāstlic, meaning 'spiritual' or 'relating to the soul or spirit.' The base word 'ghost' (Old English gāst, 'spirit, soul') goes back to a Germanic root *gaistaz, which may trace further to an Indo-European root meaning 'to be frightened' or 'to be amazed.' Over time, the meaning shifted from the spiritual realm to the physical appearance of a ghost — pale, thin, and unreal — and later, by extension, to faint or unclear sounds.