ghost
noun and verb · the spirit of a dead person that some people believe they can see
- GOHSTɡoʊst (stressed)
- GOHSTɡəʊst (stressed)
- US /ɡoʊst/GOHST Recorded voice
- UK /ɡəʊst/GOHST Your device’s voice
How to pronounce ghost
Ghost is pronounced GOHST, rhyming with host and most. It is one syllable, the H is silent, and the vowel is the oh in go, not the o in lost.
- 1 syllable
- Stress on GOHST
- US and UK IPA
- Checked in Cambridge and Oxford
IPA checked in the Cambridge Dictionary and Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries. The recording is American English.
Ghost, sound by sound
Each sound in the IPA, with a word you already know that has it.
US American English/ɡoʊst/
GOHSTstressed
- /ɡ/as in get
- /oʊ/as in go (US)
- /s/as in see
- /t/as in tea
UK British English/ɡəʊst/
GOHSTstressed
- /ɡ/as in get
- /əʊ/as in go (UK)
- /s/as in see
- /t/as in tea
Say ghost yourself
Press the microphone and say it once. Your browser writes down what it hears: if it writes ghost, you were understood. If it writes another word, you see which sound changed.
Tip. Start with a plain G, no breath after it. Then oh, as in host.
Record yourself and play it next to our recording: the quickest way to hear a difference.
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Common ghost pronunciation mistakes
What people often say instead, and how to fix it. Say GOHST.
Not
g-HOHSTBreathing out an H after the G. The H is silent: start with a plain G.
Not
GOSTUsing the short o of cost or lost. The vowel is the oh in go.
Not
GOHSDropping the T. End with a clear st.
Ghost in a sentence
Hear each one, slow it down, then say it. Words change a little when they join others, so practise them in sentences too.
The kids told ghost stories around the fire.
You look like you have seen a ghost.
People say a ghost lives in the old hotel.
Where did the h in ghost come from?
From a printer. The Old English word was gast, and English wrote it without an H for centuries. In 1484 William Caxton printed it as ghoost, and the H stayed.
Caxton and his assistant had links to the Low Countries, and the spelling was likely influenced by the Flemish word gheest. The H changed the look of the word, not its sound.
The vowel is the other trap. In ghost, host, most and post, o is the long oh. In cost and lost it is short. Say ghost as host with a G.
Words that sound like ghost
Rhymes and words that share its tricky sound. Open any of them in the checker and say it.
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