'ghostlike' originates from English, specifically the words 'ghost' and the suffix '-like', where 'ghost' ultimately comes from Old English 'gāst' meaning 'spirit' and '-like' comes from Old English 'līc' meaning 'body' or 'form' (later developing into a suffix meaning 'similar to').

'ghost' developed from Old English 'gāst' into Middle English 'gost/ghost', while the adjective-forming element 'līc' (meaning 'body' or 'form') became the suffix '-like'; these elements combined in Modern English to form the compound 'ghostlike'.

Initially the components referred to 'spirit' and 'form' respectively, and combined to mean 'having the form of a spirit'; the modern sense remains closely aligned with that origin, extending also to faint or insubstantial qualities.