ghostly

Everyday

1. Like a ghost or to do with ghosts: pale, faint, strange and scary. tree →
2. Faint and hard to see or hear, as if not quite real: a ghostly shape in the fog. tree →
3. Ghostly can also mean spiritual, to do with the soul, saints or religion. tree →

In the lessons

In stories, especially spooky ones and at Halloween, «ghostly» builds a creepy mood: ghostly figures, ghostly voices, ghostly white. In descriptive writing lessons it is a good word for mist, moonlight and echoes. Phrases: a ghostly figure, a ghostly whisper, ghostly pale.

Examples

• A ghostly figure drifted across the old hall. tree →
• We heard a ghostly moan from the attic, but it was just the wind. tree →
• The moon gave the garden a ghostly glow. tree →
• Her face looked ghostly pale after the fright. tree →
• Ghostly shapes of ships appeared out of the fog. tree →
• The tale was full of ghostly whispers. tree →
• Using «ghostly» made my Halloween story spookier. tree →
• To these "legends," as the folk-tales are styled in which the saints or their ghostly enemies occur, belongs the following narrative of-- tree →

Note

It looks like an adverb (-ly) but it is an adjective: «a ghostly sound», not «he walked ghostly». Spelling: gh at the start, silent h. Ghosts are a part of stories and beliefs; science has never shown that they exist.