Ghost vs. Revenant — What's the Difference?

In folklore, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that can appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to realistic, lifelike forms.

In folklore, a revenant is an animated corpse that is believed to have revived from death to haunt the living. The word revenant is derived from the Old French word, revenant, the "returning" (see also the related French verb revenir, meaning "to come back").

An apparition of a dead person which is believed to appear or become manifest to the living, typically as a nebulous image

A person who has returned, especially supposedly from the dead

Act as ghostwriter of (a work)

One that returns after a lengthy absence.

Glide smoothly and effortlessly

One who returns after death.

End a personal relationship with (someone) by suddenly and without explanation withdrawing from all communication

Someone who returns from a long absence.

The spirit of a dead person, especially one that is believed to appear to the living in bodily form or to haunt specific locations.

A person or thing reborn.

A person's spirit or soul

A supernatural being that returns from the dead; a zombie or ghost.

A returning or haunting memory or image.

Returning.

A slight or faint trace

A person who returns after a lengthy absence

The tiniest bit

Someone who has returned from the dead

An unwanted image on a television or radar screen caused by reflected waves.

Of or relating to or typical of a revenant;

A displaced image in a photograph caused by the optical system of the camera.

Coming back;

An unwanted spectral line caused by imperfections in a diffraction grating.

A displaced image in a mirror caused by reflection from the front of the glass.

(Informal) A ghostwriter.

A nonexistent publication listed in bibliographies.

A fictitious employee or business.

(Physiology) A red blood cell having no hemoglobin.

(Informal) To engage in ghostwriting.

To move noiselessly like a ghost

(Informal) To cut off all communication with someone, especially a romantic or sexual partner, without providing an explanation

To haunt.

(Informal) To ghostwrite

(Informal) To cut off all communication with (someone), especially a romantic or sexual partner, without providing an explanation

The spirit; the human soul.

The disembodied soul; the soul or spirit of a deceased person; a spirit appearing after death.

Any faint shadowy semblance; an unsubstantial image.

A false image formed in a telescope, camera, or other optical device by reflection from the surfaces of one or more lenses.

An unwanted image similar to and overlapping or adjacent to the main one on a television screen, caused by the transmitted image being received both directly and via reflection.

A ghostwriter.

A nonexistent person invented to obtain some fraudulent benefit.

A dead person whose identity is stolen by another. See ghosting.

(Internet) An unresponsive user on IRC, resulting from the user's client disconnecting without notifying the server.

(computing) An image of a file or hard disk.

(theatre) An understudy.

(espionage) A covert (and deniable) agent.

The faint image that remains after an attempt to remove graffiti.

(video games) An opponent in a racing game that follows a previously recorded route, allowing players to compete against previous best times.

Someone whose identity cannot be established because there are no records of him/her.

(quantum physics) An unphysical state in a gauge theory.

A formerly nonexistent character that was at some point mistakenly encoded into a character set standard, which might have since become used opportunistically for some genuine purpose.

(countable) ghost pepper

(uncountable) A game in which players take turns to add a letter to a possible word, trying not to complete a word.

White or pale.

Transparent or translucent.

(attributive) Abandoned.

(attributive) Remnant; the remains of a(n).

(attributive) Perceived or listed but not real.

(attributive) Of cryptid, supernatural or extraterrestrial nature.

(attributive) Substitute.

To haunt; to appear to in the form of an apparition.

(obsolete) To die; to expire.

(literary) To imbue with a ghost-like hue or effect.

(ambitransitive) To ghostwrite.

(nautical) To sail seemingly without wind.

(computing) To copy a file or hard drive image.

(GUI) To gray out (a visual item) to indicate that it is unavailable.

To forcibly disconnect an IRC user who is using one's reserved nickname.

(intransitive) To appear or move without warning, quickly and quietly; to slip.

(transitive) To transfer (a prisoner) to another prison without the prior knowledge of other inmates.

(slang) To kill.

To perform an act of ghosting: to break up with someone without warning or explanation; to ignore someone, especially on social media.

(film) To provide the speaking or singing voice for another actor, who is lip-syncing.

The spirit; the soul of man.

The disembodied soul; the soul or spirit of a deceased person; a spirit appearing after death; an apparition; a specter.

Any faint shadowy semblance; an unsubstantial image; a phantom; a glimmering; as, not a ghost of a chance; the ghost of an idea.

A false image formed in a telescope by reflection from the surfaces of one or more lenses.

To die; to expire.

To appear to or haunt in the form of an apparition.

A mental representation of some haunting experience;

A writer who gives the credit of authorship to someone else

The visible disembodied soul of a dead person

A suggestion of some quality;

Move like a ghost;

Haunt like a ghost; pursue;

Write for someone else;