ghostly presence

ghostly presence

An unspecified yet palpable and typically somewhat sinister presence, attendance, or existence. Though the country had finally reached a period of peace, the ghostly presence of its violent past hung heavily on the minds of the citizens. The characters never discuss the absent father directly, but this very avoidance gives him a ghostly presence throughout the novel.
See also: presence
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
See also:
  • presence
  • take attendance
  • require (something) of (someone or something)
  • require of
  • request (something) of (someone or something)
  • request of
  • there wasn't a dry eye in the house
  • not a dry eye in the house
  • give witness to (something)
  • bud up
References in classic literature
By the light of the pale halo that encircled the ghostly Presence, and moved with it, I could see the dark figure of the living woman seated immovable in the chair.
A moment passed--and I saw the ghostly Presence stoop over the living woman.
There, on the blank space in the letter, as I had seen it before on the blank space in the sketch-book--there were the written words which the ghostly Presence had left behind it; arranged once more in two lines, as I copy them here:
The convinced way he surveyed the empty chairs made me feel as if I had intruded upon a tiffin of ghostly Presences.
Areas like Damascus, which were always controlled and supported by the regime, have access to electricity and running water; others like Douma and Aleppo are ruins, bombed-out hulks of buildings a looming and ghostly presence over the empty streets.
As well as his ghostly presence in the Madrid final, he missed the epicBarcelonacomeback and was also an ineffective substitute in the 3-0 first leg loss in the Nou Camp, remember.
Asked if the ghostly presence had tempted him to reconsider working at the pub he said: "No, you just get used to it."
Biz, as she's called by friends and family, finds comfort in his ghostly presence and indulges in his stories about her childhood and his love for her mother.
For his installation, Gomez-Egaaa also incorporates a musical sound element, performed by singers who create a ghostly presence within the space.
Ghostly presence Matt McIntosh as a monk - or is it?
Constance grows more protective of their child as they start to sense a ghostly presence in the house.
They had "filmed a clear image of a ghostly presence".
Ghostly presence Robert Carr, who starred in award-winning independent film Abernathy House, will play The Rainman Local talent Cairnhill actor David Byrne, winner of the 2016 Best Newcomer Award from the UK Screen Acting Academy, stars as student Lucas Kellan David
Over the years, persistent rumors of ghostly presence and sightings around the fabled house would be passed on from one generation to another.
FOR more than 15 years a Tyneside pub has been haunted by rumours of a ghostly presence.