1
as in spy
a person who tries secretly to obtain information for one country in the territory of another usually unfriendly country
Russia recalled its spooks after the collapse of the Soviet Union
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
2
as in ghost
the soul of a dead person thought of especially as appearing to living people
Halloween is the night when spooks and goblins are said to roam abroad
Synonyms & Similar Words
as in to frighten
to strike with fear
the sudden noise spooked her out of her skin
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of spook
John Kell, Fortune, 1 Apr. 2026
The translation squeaks and spooks with imagery of haunts and death.
—Amber McBride, Literary Hub, 5 Nov. 2025
Adi Guajardo, CBS News, 17 June 2026
Her role as Samara Morgan spooked audiences and led to a MTV Movie Award for best villain.
—Kimberly Nordyke, HollywoodReporter, 17 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for spook
Noun
Anthropic spooks cyber firms; eyes IPO.
—John Kell, Fortune, 1 Apr. 2026
The translation squeaks and spooks with imagery of haunts and death.
—Amber McBride, Literary Hub, 5 Nov. 2025
Verb
Passenger thrown from carriage Officials said a family of four was in the carriage when the horse got spooked and took off.
—Adi Guajardo, CBS News, 17 June 2026
Her role as Samara Morgan spooked audiences and led to a MTV Movie Award for best villain.
—Kimberly Nordyke, HollywoodReporter, 17 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for spook
Recent Examples of Synonyms for spook
Noun
-
Big tech and corporate spies Grady’s stewardship of state money has been questioned in the past.—
Shirsho Dasgupta,
Miami Herald,
18 June 2026
-
To get into 1970s Moscow spy mode as Twila, Richardson joined forces on a thrifting expedition with costume designer Anastasia Magoutas.—
Natalie Oganesyan,
Deadline,
17 June 2026
Noun
-
There are even whispers of his ghost still haunting the area.—
Olivia Young,
CBS News,
19 June 2026
-
Co-stars include Aaron Paul and Bryce Dallas Howard in the story of two fraudulent paranormal investigators who are forced to face real ghosts and the lies underpinning their business.—
Pat Saperstein,
Variety,
19 June 2026
Verb
-
But her outbursts frightened the children too.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
16 June 2026
-
What frightened me most was what might happen to my children.—
Monica Rodriguez-Aguilera,
New York Daily News,
15 June 2026
Noun
-
The 24-year-old warehouse operative recently shared the eyebrow disaster online, though the incident itself happened last year.—
Ashley Vega,
PEOPLE,
12 June 2026
-
Universal also produced a Bourne series called Treadstone, which ran for a single season on the USA Network and starred Jeremy Irvine as the CIA operative John Randolph Bentley.—
Ryan Coleman,
Entertainment Weekly,
12 June 2026
Noun
-
Reports of strange sounds, apparitions, and unexplained encounters continue to attract visitors.—
Kaif Shaikh,
Interesting Engineering,
15 June 2026
-
Why then, when discussing body image after weight changes, is our culture reaching for the language of vexing apparitions and death?—
Virgie Tovar,
Forbes.com,
14 June 2026
Verb
-
City Council should refuse to be intimidated and not let Webb scare them from using it to help Chicago and its citizens.—
The Editorial Board,
Chicago Tribune,
19 June 2026
-
That's not a company that needs to scare off millions of loyal customers with a brutal price rise.—
Janhoi McGregor,
Forbes.com,
18 June 2026
Noun
-
Matt Chapman signed his extension before Posey took over, but his first big move was bringing in free-agent shortstop Willy Adames.—
Ian Miller OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
18 June 2026
-
To fix this, the team altered the fabrication process and introduced an in situ crosslinking agent directly into the polymer film during its formation.—
Mrigakshi Dixit,
Interesting Engineering,
18 June 2026
Noun
-
Thank you for a plethora of news on June 17 that didn’t crush our spirits.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
21 June 2026
-
The appearance represented one of the highest-profile bookings in the festival’s history and fulfilled organizers’ goal of bringing an artist whose work aligned with the spirit of Juneteenth.—
J.M. Banks
June 21,
Kansas City Star,
21 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Spook.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/spook. Accessed 22 Jun. 2026.
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