ghostly
/ˈɡoʊstli/adjective
ghostly is spelled G-H-O-S-T-L-Y: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 1.4 times per million words in written English, the 24,170th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, ghostly means “Of or pertaining to ghosts or spirits” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in ghostly?
| Letters | 7: G-H-O-S-T-L-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.4 times per million words; the 24,170th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is ghostly?
Ghostly appears 1.4 times per million words in written English, the 24,170th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce ghostly?
- US /ˈɡoʊstli/
Ghostly has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-ghostly.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Qwertygiy-ghostly.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with ghostly?
One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as ghostly from its last stressed vowel (/oʊstli/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of ghostly
- ghostlier comparative
- ghostliest superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does ghostly mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Of or pertaining to ghosts or spirits.
a ghostly figure with a hood
- 2
Spooky; frightening.
A ghostly hush fell.
- 3
archaicRelating to the soul; not carnal or secular; spiritual.
a ghostly confessor
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Ghostly in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense pertaining to ghosts:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | fantomatique |
| Portuguese | fantasmagórico |
| Spanish | fantasmal |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does ghostly come from?
From Middle English gostly, gastlich, from Old English gāstlīċ (“spiritual, holy, clerical (not lay), ghastly, ghostly, spectral”), from Proto-West Germanic *gaistalīk (“spiritual”), equivalent to ghost + -ly. Cognate with Scots ghaistly, gaistly (“spiritual, ghastly, terrifying”), West Frisian geastlik (“spiritual, clerical, religious”), Dutch geestelijk (“spiritual, clerical, ecclesiastical”), German geistlich (“spiritual, sacred, religious”), Danish geistlig (“ecclesiastical, clerical”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).