wraith

wraith

noun \ˈrāth\

plural wraiths \ˈrāths also ˈrāthz\

Definition of WRAITH

1

a : the exact likeness of a living person seen usually just before death as an apparition

b : ghost, specter

2

: an insubstantial form or semblance : shadow

3

: a barely visible gaseous or vaporous column

— wraith·like \-ˌlīk\ adjective

Examples of WRAITH

1. <the people who once lived here believed that their world was populated by wraiths and witches>

Origin of WRAITH

origin unknown

First Known Use: 1513

Related to WRAITH

Synonyms

apparition, bogey (also bogie or bogy), familiar spirit, hant [dialect], haunt [chiefly dialect], materialization, phantasm (also fantasm), phantom, poltergeist, shade, shadow, specter (or spectre), spirit, spook, sprite, vision, visitant, ghost

Related Words

angel, daimon, familiar, genie, genius, jinni (or jinn also djinni or djinn), shaitan; double, doppelgänger (or doppelganger), fetch; lemures, manes; incubus, lamia, succubus, vampire, zombie (also zombi); cacodemon, demon (or daemon), devil, fiend, ghoul, imp

Other Occult Terms

augury, censor, invocation, lucidity, metempsychosis, mojo, numinous, preternatural, weird

Rhymes with WRAITH

eighth, faith, saithe, scathe