ghost town

/ˈɡəʊst taʊn/

//ˈɡəʊst taʊn// noun

"ghost-town" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“ghost town” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
10
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A town which has become deserted, usually due to failing economic activity, especially one that still has substantial visible remains.

Corpus desk

Index EN-ghost-town · ghost town · English

ghost town · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "G" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for ghost town
PropertyValue
Headwordghost town
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈɡəʊst taʊn/
Letters10
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “ghost town” sits in English frequency

ghost town falls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

ghost town is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈɡəʊst taʊn/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

No generated misspelling entries exist for ghost town in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct English form is ghost town, spelled G-H-O-S-T- -T-O-W-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    A town which has become deserted, usually due to failing economic activity, especially one that still has substantial visible remains.
  2. 2
    Anything that has been deserted or abandoned, or has been empty all along.

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 6, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "ghost town"?
"ghost town" is spelled G-H-O-S-T- -T-O-W-N. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈɡəʊst taʊn/.
What does "ghost town" mean?
As a noun, "ghost town" means: A town which has become deserted, usually due to failing economic activity, especially one that still has substantial visible remains.
How do you pronounce "ghost town"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "ghost town" is /ˈɡəʊst taʊn/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "ghost town" come from?
"ghost town" is a English word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list