Meaning & use
ghostwritten
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“ghostwritten” is a form of “ghostwrite”.
Meaning
verbtransitive
Written for someone else who is named as the author.
Grammar: Used in passive voice: 'The memoir was ghostwritten.' The active form is 'ghostwrite something for someone'.
Patterns
- be ghostwritten by someone
- ghostwrite something for someone
Many celebrity autobiographies are ghostwritten by professional journalists.
The speech was ghostwritten for the CEO by her assistant.
He admitted that his best-selling novel had been ghostwritten.
Word forms
| third person singular | ghostwrites |
|---|---|
| past tense | ghostwrote |
| past participle | ghostwritten |
| -ing form | ghostwriting |
Common combinations
- ghostwritten by
- The article was ghostwritten by a former speechwriter.
- ghostwritten memoir
- His ghostwritten memoir became a bestseller.
- ghostwritten speech
- The president's ghostwritten speech was praised for its clarity.
Synonyms and how they differ
- anonymously written
- Broader; it means written by an unknown person, not necessarily for someone else's name.
- co-written
- Implies two or more named authors working together, unlike ghostwriting where the real writer is hidden.
Word family
- ghostwrite verb
- To write something for someone else who takes the credit.
- ghostwriter noun
- A person who ghostwrites.
- ghostwriting noun
- The practice or activity of writing for someone else.
Commonly confused: ghostwritten or handwritten?
ghostwritten vs handwritten
Means written by hand, not typed; it has nothing to do with who is credited as the author.
Practice
Choose the correct sentence.
Choose one answer.
The passive pattern is 'be ghostwritten by someone'. The other prepositions do not fit this passive structure.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “ghostwritten”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.