Ghost vs. Vampire — 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.

A vampire is a creature from folklore that subsists by feeding on the vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mischief or deaths in the neighbourhoods they inhabited while they were alive.

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

In popular folklore, an undead being in human form that survives by sucking the blood of living people, especially at night.

Act as ghostwriter of (a work)

A person, such as an extortionist, who takes advantage of others, especially for personal gain.

Glide smoothly and effortlessly

A vampire bat.

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

A mythological undead creature said to feed on the blood of the living.

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

(colloquial) A person with the medical condition systemic lupus erythematosus, colloquially known as vampirism, with effects such as photosensitivity and brownish-red stained teeth.

A person's spirit or soul

A blood-sucking bat; vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus)

A returning or haunting memory or image.

A person who drains one's time, energy, money, etc.

A slight or faint trace

(dated) A vamp: a seductive woman who exploits men.

The tiniest bit

A medical technician who works with patients' blood.

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

Synonym of anti-ship missile(ASM), particularly an incoming hostile one.

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

To drain of energy or resources.

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

A blood-sucking ghost; a soul of a dead person superstitiously believed to come from the grave and wander about by night sucking the blood of persons asleep, thus causing their death. This superstition was once prevalent in parts of Eastern Europe, and was especially current in Hungary about the year 1730. The vampire was often said to have the ability to transform itself into the form of a bat, as presented in the novel depicting the legend of Dracula published by Bram Stoker in 1897, which has inspired several movies.

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

Fig.: One who lives by preying on others; an extortioner; a bloodsucker.

(Informal) A ghostwriter.

Either one of two or more species of South American blood-sucking bats belonging to the genera Desmodus and Diphylla; also called vampire bat. These bats are destitute of molar teeth, but have strong, sharp cutting incisors with which they make punctured wounds from which they suck the blood of horses, cattle, and other animals, as well as man, chiefly during sleep. They have a cæcal appendage to the stomach, in which the blood with which they gorge themselves is stored.

A nonexistent publication listed in bibliographies.

Any one of several species of harmless tropical American bats of the genus Vampyrus, especially Vampyrus spectrum. These bats feed upon insects and fruit, but were formerly erroneously supposed to suck the blood of man and animals. Called also false vampire.

A fictitious employee or business.

(folklore) a corpse that rises at night to drink the blood of the living

(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;