phantom 1 of 2

adjective

Definition of phantomnext
as in imaginary
not real and existing only in the imagination the company claimed that the only hazards involving its product were the phantom dangers created by consumer groups

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phantom

2 of 2

noun

ˈfan-təm How to pronounce phantom (audio)
as in ghost
the soul of a dead person thought of especially as appearing to living people Halloween is supposed to be a time when phantoms return to walk among us

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of phantom
Adjective
The quarter ended with Howard called for a questionable shooting foul on Sabrina Ionescu, who sold the phantom contact before missing both free throws. — Fiifi Frimpong, New York Daily News, 8 Oct. 2026 This week, the SEC revealed details of a couple of cases involving phantom pre-IPO shares of SpaceX, OpenAI, and other hot startups. — Alexei Oreskovic, Fortune, 2 Oct. 2026
Noun
On the 1994 comeback album Gratuitous Sax & Senseless Violins, Sparks imagined Liberace, who died in 1987, making his own comeback in the afterlife, adored again as a phantom haunting the Earth. — Al Shipley, SPIN, 31 July 2026 Left behind are her great-grandmother’s haunting journals detailing the story of her own phantom, and subsequently, her brutal murder. — Jennifer Maas, Variety, 25 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for phantom
Recent Examples of Synonyms for phantom
  1. imaginary
  2. ghost
  3. fictitious
  4. apparition
  5. fictional
  6. spirit
  7. mythical
  8. imagined
Adjective
  • The film was a vision of the future refracted through an imaginary past.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 30 Oct. 2026
  • The elimination of the imaginary Kong Mountains and knowledge of a shorter travel distance through the dense tropical forest accelerated French colonization of the region.
    — Thomas J Bassett, The Conversation, 29 Oct. 2026
Definition of imaginary
Noun
  • The film turned from horror into drama, though it was still marketed in Thailand as a ghost film because that genre sells.
    — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 8 Nov. 2026
  • Yet every technology transformation is followed by a ghost that rarely appears on a project plan, risk register or executive dashboard.
    — Irene Thong, Forbes.com, 5 Nov. 2026
Definition of ghost
Adjective
  • This Lincolnian view of the war—that the United States was perpetual and that the Confederate States of America was a fictitious, farcical nation—has led to various historical interpretations ever since, among historians and laypeople alike.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 19 Oct. 2026
  • The series will be set in a fictitious Barneys in Beverly Hills, not New York, and the real founding family of the retailer, the Pressman family, has no involvement, the spokesperson said.
    — Jean E. Palmieri, Footwear News, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of fictitious
Noun
  • Title granted to the Virgin Mary in honor of her apparitions to three shepherd children (Saints Jacinta and Francisco Marto and Venerable Lucia dos Santos) in Fátima, Portugal, in 1917.
    — Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 30 Oct. 2026
  • The location was a former sugarcane plantation notorious for cruelty, and accounts of apparitions in the water are a reminder of this history.
    — Marcus Librizzi, The Conversation, 26 Oct. 2026
Definition of apparition
Adjective
  • The path of the 2027 total solar eclipse will cross southern Tunisia, where several locations were used to bring the fictional desert planet Tatooine to life.
    — Jamie Carter, Space.com, 4 Nov. 2026
  • The books are based in the fictional, haunted, historic lakeside town of Wharton; Season 1 of the series will adapt Webb’s book The End of Temperance Dare.
    — Matt Grobar, Deadline, 3 Nov. 2026
Definition of fictional
Noun
  • Vallow Daybell holds doomsday religious beliefs and has claimed that people in her life were possessed by evil spirits.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 2 Nov. 2026
  • Mariah Carey is getting into the Christmas spirit with Gucci.
    — Julia Teti, Footwear News, 2 Nov. 2026
Definition of spirit
Adjective
  • Though not a household name, in certain circles, Celmins has attained near-mythic status.
    — Nate Freeman, Vanity Fair, 6 Nov. 2026
  • The rooms Even the most economical rooms are on point, continuing that mythic, sultry vibe that’s consistent across the resort.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 30 Oct. 2026
Definition of mythical
Adjective
  • The companies that continue to solve for an imagined version of their consumer will lose to the companies solving for the real one.
    — Sam Peskin, Fortune, 6 Nov. 2026
  • Brand, ⁠once ‌one of Britain’s most high-profile ‌broadcasters and the ‌former husband of ⁠singer Katy Perry, had denied the accusations, saying the incidents ‌had either ​been ‌consensual, reinvented ⁠or re-imagined.
    — Adela Suliman, NBC news, 5 Nov. 2026
Definition of imagined

Browse Nearby Words

phantasms
phantom
phantoms
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Cite this Entry

“Phantom.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/phantom. Accessed 10 Nov. 2026.

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