# ghostly

> English word · Adjective · IPA /ˈɡoʊstli/ · frequency rank #24,168

## Definitions
1. Of or pertaining to ghosts or spirits.
2. Spooky; frightening.
3. Relating to the soul; not carnal or secular; spiritual.

## Etymology
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”).

## Easily confused with
- **ghosts** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ghostly-vs-ghosts)
- **grossly** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ghostly-vs-grossly)
- **ghost** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ghost-vs-ghostly)
- **ghastly** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ghastly-vs-ghostly)

## Common misspellings (12)
`gghostly`, `ghhostly`, `ghoslty`, `ghosstly`, `ghostlly`, `ghostlyy`, `ghosttly`, `ghostyl`, `ghotsly`, `ghsotly`, `gohstly`, `hgostly`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/ghostly