the specter of (something)

idiom

: a notion or fear of something bad that might happen in the future

a nation alarmed/haunted by the specter of famine/war

News of the disease raised the specter of a possible plague.

Examples of the specter of (something) in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Frankly Speaking uses this conflict to invoke the specter of clichéd K-drama love triangles, but Jeong-heon remains mostly in the background of Ki-baek and Woo-joo’s chemistry. —Geoffrey Bunting, TIME, 24 May 2024

Campos raised the specter of the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, where protesters in the streets were met with police violence, and divisions erupted inside the venue. —Seema Mehta, Los Angeles Times, 20 May 2024

The combination of weak growth and rising prices is raising the specter of stagflation. —Nicholas Gordon, Fortune Asia, 16 May 2024

The potential consequences of these charges are severe, with the specter of imprisonment looming large for the senator if convicted. —Jeremy Yurow, USA TODAY, 13 May 2024

Therefore, the next time the NCAA raises the specter of the end of sports, courts and policymakers should not be cowed. —Dionne Koller, Baltimore Sun, 18 Apr. 2024

As the specter of Lestat, Reid is more alluring and more unhinged than he’s ever been. —Alison Herman, Variety, 12 May 2024

Megeve mayor Jullien-Brèches is skeptical that the depreciation will be that substantial, citing low snow levels in recent years and the specter of climate change. —Ryan Hogg, Fortune Europe, 8 May 2024

Finally, there is the specter of fake songs, generated by artificial intelligence. —C. Brandon Ogbunu, WIRED, 6 May 2024