ghosting

What does ghosting mean?

Ghosting is not a slow fade or an awkward pause after the last message. It is a full disappearance: the replies stop mid-conversation, the calls go unanswered, and no reason ever arrives. The term first described dating, but the mechanics now apply to recruiters, contractors and old friends. What hurts is not so much the loss as the missing ending, and that is why the one who vanishes is judged more harshly than anyone who simply says goodbye.

Where does ghosting come from?

The word grew out of early-2000s dating columns that needed a name for something people already did. Dating apps made the disappearing act a mass experience in the following decade, and the write-ups that appeared around 2015 and 2016 presented it as a brand-new invention.

How to use ghosting

• We texted every day for a month, and then he ghosted me the week before my birthday.
• The recruiter who promised to call back in two days is ghosting me now, so I assume it's a no.