Round eyes, an open mouth, and two stubby arms raised mid-"boo" make the ghost emoji Halloween's friendliest scare. It's less about actual hauntings than about jump-scaring a friend for a laugh, or owning your own inner troublemaker.
What 👻 means
A cartoony version of a ghost in a white head-to-toe gown, disproportionate and filled circles for the eyes and an open mouth, with the tongue sticking out. It also has two white arms raised up in the air.
The 👻 Ghost emoji signifies the phrase - "Boo, gotcha!". This refers to a way of scaring someone in a casual and funny way. This emoji is also a way of throwing shade at someone, being silly, goofy, and playful. Some platforms have proportionate eyes too.
How and when to use it
- Bring in this emoji while trying to be playful over text.
- You can also use this emoji while pranking someone or telling someone else about the prank.
- This emoji is a great way to seem cute too.
- It is a great fit for Halloween conversations.
- If someone's telling you something that's supposed to be intense but you find it shallow and hilarious, send this emoji (pretty insensitive, yes. Hence, send it only to those who are used to your insensitiveness).
- You can also use this emoji to show excitement.
Other Names
- 👻 Boo!
- 👻 Peekaboo
- 👻 Goofy
- 👻 Silly
- 👻 Halloween
- 👻 Ghost Costume
- 👻 Ghoul
- 👻 Excitement
- 👻 Yay!
- 👻 Playful
👻 in real conversations
What does 👻 mean from a girl?
Often about ghosting — either warning someone she's about to disappear, or calling out someone who vanished on her. “He 👻'd me after one date” is the single most common modern use.
What does 👻 mean in texting?
Ghosting is the big one now — cutting off contact without explanation — right alongside its older jobs as spooky Halloween decor and the actual Snapchat app icon showing up in conversation.
Does 👻 always mean ghosting?
Not always — around Halloween it's just a spooky decoration, and on Snapchat it's literally the app's logo. But in a dating or texting context specifically, ghosting is the read almost every time.
The lowdown
- Category
- Smileys & Emotion › face-costume
- Codepoints
U+1F47B- Emoji version
- Emoji 0.6
- Shortcodes
:ghost:- Keywords
- boo, creature, excited, face, fairy, fairytale, fantasy, ghost, halloween, haunting, monster, scary, silly, tale
How it looks across platforms
Seeing a blank box instead of the emoji somewhere? Here's why that happens. Curious why the designs above don't match to begin with? Here's why that happens too.
Pairs well with
Tap any combo to copy the whole thing.
⚡ Quick round
Which joined the keyboard first — 👻 Ghost or 🇺🇾 Flag: Uruguay?
Runs with a crowd
👻 keeps company in halloween emojis and skull emojis and white emojis — tap-to-copy sets for when one emoji isn't enough.