ghosting

noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"ghosting" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“ghosting” is uncommon English (frequency #51,724 among 2,313 “G” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#51,724
frequency rank, English
2,313
“G” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The practice of hiding prisoners from inspection from (possibly hostile) outside inspectors.

Corpus desk

Index EN-ghosting · ghosting · English

ghosting · rank #51,724 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #51,724
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,313
  • PHOTO-FINISH Gerhardt

Nearest frequency peer: Gerhardt (-1 rank slots)

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.

Long-tail ranks near “ghosting”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “ghosting” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for ghosting
PropertyValue
Headwordghosting
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters8
Frequency rank#51,724
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “ghosting” in English

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).ghostingfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Rare peers in the same band: “Gerhardt” (#51,723), “gaslighting” (#51,721), “glum” (#51,727). Among 2,313 “G” headwords, “ghosting” is #51,724. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

ghosting is uncommon English at frequency #51,724 among 2,313 “G” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 8 senses are on record.

ghosting has no tracked misspelling variants, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From ghost + -ing. The correct English form is ghosting, spelled G-H-O-S-T-I-N-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    The practice of hiding prisoners from inspection from (possibly hostile) outside inspectors.
  2. 2
    The blurry appearance of a television picture resulting from interference caused by multipath reception.
  3. 3
    Ghost imaging.
  4. 4
    A form of identity theft in which someone steals the identity, and sometimes even the role within society, of a specific dead person (the "ghost") who is not widely known to be deceased.
  5. 5
    A problem with a keyboard where certain simultaneous keypresses trigger the action of a further key that was not in fact pressed.
  6. 6
    A method of ending a personal relationship by stopping any contact with the other party and not providing an explanation.
  7. 7
    The phenomenon of the writing on one side of a page in a notebook being partly visible on the other side.
  8. 8
    The act or habit of exhaling vape smoke slowly, to prevent others from noticing.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how ghosting appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Examine your matrix map, and make sure that no three keystrokes form a rectangle with a fourth keystroke that will cause you problems. This prevents both ghosting and blocking.
  2. Stories of ghosting often deal with broken-off romances, but ghosting can end a friendship as well.

Etymology

From ghost + -ing.

This word in other languages

espantada(Español)ghosting(Français)Ghosting(Deutsch)fantasma(Português)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "ghosting"?
"ghosting" is spelled G-H-O-S-T-I-N-G.
What does "ghosting" mean?
As a noun, "ghosting" means: The practice of hiding prisoners from inspection from (possibly hostile) outside inspectors.
What is the origin of the word "ghosting"?
From ghost + -ing. See the full etymology section above for more details.
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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "ghosting", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Gerhardt#51,723gobbling#51,728foothill#51,708gurgling#51,741

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list