plural phantoms
1
: the soul of a dead person thought of as living in an unseen world or as appearing to living people : ghost
The book is about the phantoms that are said to haunt the nation's cemeteries.
2
: something that is not real and exists only in a person's mind
The crisis is merely a phantom made up by the media.
3
: something that is hard to see or achieve
—often + of
He spent years chasing the phantoms of fame and fortune.
always used before a noun
1
: coming from or associated with the world of ghosts
People claim to have seen a phantom ship floating on the lake.
2
a
: not real or true or not based on something real or true
A number of ballots from phantom voters had to be thrown out.
phantom fears
b
: not real but felt or experienced as something real
phantom illnesses
a phantom pregnancy [=a medical condition in which a woman believes that she is pregnant and can appear to be pregnant when she is not pregnant]
Cite this Entry
“Phantom.” Merriam-Webster.com Simple Definition, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/simple/phantom. Accessed 22 Jun. 2026.
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