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Glite Dictionary
to ghostwrite

to ghostwrite

3 7.7
To write a book, article, or speech for another person who is named as the author
  • verb
  • /ˈɡoʊstˌraɪt/
translation icon : escribir para otro
  • He said that you ghostwrite Dad's books.
  • ghostwritten articles

Examples

  • Staley: No, but I've offered to ghostwrite his account.

    Blog text (26)

  • What people don't realize is it was probably ghostwritten as well.

    Blog text (28)

  • Could you please ghostwrite for my kids for their Christmas cards?

    Blog text (29)

  • I'm gonna need you to ghostwrite some texts for me.

    Every Day (2018)

  • "Well, more and more books are ghostwritten," he said.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • The trick was ghostwritten by Campbell.

    Academic text (2003)

  • Then, she has another book ghostwritten for her and makes out like a bandit.

    Blog text (8)

  • Stoll was responding to criticism that his first book had been ghostwritten; few could believe the guy could actually write.

    Blog text (12)

  • Sean Platt is a regular contributor to the content-marketing site Copyblogger, has ghostwritten copy for many online marketers, and has developed content and social-media strategies for businesses.

    Academic text (2011)

  • In 2004, the NEI hired Potomac Communications Group to ghostwrite op-eds supporting storage of nuclear waste at Nevada's Yucca Mountain.

Synonyms

to ghost
vsto ghostwrite
1 7.7

To write books or articles for someone else who takes the credit

writes for another person who is named as the author

How Visible

to coauthor
3 3.7
to ghostwrite
3 7.7

Surface Forms

ghostwrite infinitive
ghostwriting present participle
ghostwrites third person singular
ghostwrote past
ghostwritten past participle

Morphology

ghostwrite = ghost + write (transparent) = ghost + write

The meaning is directly composed from 'ghost' + 'write' (to write on behalf of another, undisclosed), which a B1 learner can infer from the components.

Etymology

Ghostwrite comes from ghost and write — think of a 'ghost' as 'invisible', so the writer does the work but stays unseen while someone else takes the credit. So, to ghostwrite is to write a book, article, or speech for another person who is named as the author.