specters

noun

variants or spectres
plural of specter
as in apparitions
the soul of a dead person thought of especially as appearing to living people feeling so terrified that every shadow became a specter

Synonyms & Similar Words

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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 specters The tale of a girl on the verge of adulthood facing the threat of immigration agents and haunted by specters from Mexican folklore is told through live actors, sophisticated puppetry and an original score of Indigenous percussion. — Jessica Gelt, Los Angeles Times, 2 Oct. 2026 See-through specters haunt the backstage area of the Muppet theater, a Muppet News report warns of man-eating furniture, and Kermit turns the tables on Price during a long talk about acting by sprouting fangs and biting the horror icon’s neck. — Damon Wise, Deadline, 13 June 2026 African diasporic people’s contentious history with these formations of motherhood create specters of separation as reproductive injustice. — Literary Hub, 8 June 2026 Ever the sassy songwriter, Musgraves handles these specters like a pro with witty write-offs. — Maya Georgi, Rolling Stone, 30 Apr. 2026 Spectres are haunting the New York City Ballet—the spectres of kings and emperors. — Jennifer Homans, New Yorker, 2 Mar. 2026 Skeletal specters emerge as a consequence of tampering with such dark magic, and one launches itself at McAdams' Christine Palmer. — Nick Romano, Entertainment Weekly, 29 Jan. 2026 San Francisco’s iconic fog also contributes to optical effects, like fog bows and brocken spectres, which are rainbows around a viewer’s shadow. — Newsroom Meteorologist, San Francisco Chronicle, 15 Jan. 2026 The Duffers have always worn their influences with pride, and the specters of Steven Spielberg and Stephen King helped jump-start the series into a phenomenon. — Alison Herman, Variety, 27 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for specters
  1. apparitions
  2. spirits
  3. ghosts
  4. shadows
  5. phantoms
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 apparitions
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
  • This can be especially uncomfortable when the prevailing narrative holds its own special significance, but pondering such complexities strengthens our minds and our spirits.
    — AJ Willingham, AJC.com, 2 Nov. 2026
Definition of spirits
Noun
  • Before it was demolished in the early 1800s, his crumbling mansion was said to be haunted by ghosts and strange occurrences.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 2 Nov. 2026
  • These books span from a far-future with flicker ghosts to the present transformed by a magical RPG to a medieval realm where a scholar/harlot/healer rides for women’s rights.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 2 Nov. 2026
Definition of ghosts
Noun
  • If there's snow on the ground, check for shadows made by Venus's light.
    — Joe Rao, Space.com, 1 Nov. 2026
  • Rattlesnakes are lazy hunters that wait in the shadows for prey to approach.
    — RJ Mackenzie, Popular Science, 1 Nov. 2026
Definition of shadows
Noun
  • Both phantoms were packed with thousands of dosimeters, tracking radiation dose over specific phases of the flight rather than just a cumulative total.
    — Jacek Krywko, ArsTechnica, 13 Aug. 2026
  • The two phantoms were designed to be adult females, since previous research found that breasts and ovaries are especially susceptible to radiation damage.
    — Charles Q. Choi, Space.com, 12 Aug. 2026
Definition of phantoms

Browse Nearby Words

specter
specters
spectra
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Cite this Entry

“Specters.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/specters. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

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