variants
or spectres
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
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Recent Examples of specters
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
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
The ground of the cemetery opens up beneath them, and specters rise into the air.
—
Louis Peitzman,
Vulture,
10 Nov. 2025
As Calhoun summarizes, the first part takes up the subject of magic and necromancy, the second treats of witchcraft and sorcery, and the third discourses of all kinds of spirits and specters.
—
Emily Zarevich,
JSTOR Daily,
3 Sep. 2025
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
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
The ground of the cemetery opens up beneath them, and specters rise into the air.
—
Louis Peitzman,
Vulture,
10 Nov. 2025
As Calhoun summarizes, the first part takes up the subject of magic and necromancy, the second treats of witchcraft and sorcery, and the third discourses of all kinds of spirits and specters.
—
Emily Zarevich,
JSTOR Daily,
3 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for specters
Noun
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Today, the massive complex attracts paranormal investigators who report apparitions, voices, and other unexplained phenomena.
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Why then, when discussing body image after weight changes, is our culture reaching for the language of vexing apparitions and death?
Noun
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Koval Distillery, Chicago’s first legal post-Prohibition distillery, produces spirits as artful as its bottle designs and Vin312 Winery has grown from its owner’s garage into a full-fledged tasting room.
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The release continues Tamworth’s tradition of creating spirits inspired by the natural world around its rural New Hampshire home.
Noun
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Typically, ghosts show up in literature when something that has been repressed escapes and becomes everyone’s problem.
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This bed and breakfast is said to be haunted by more than a dozen spirits, including the ghosts of Civil War soldiers and a woman who once owned the early 1800s home.
Noun
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Dark figures were darting through the shadows—Germans were carrying sacks and pillows to their building.
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Reflections, shadows and motion blur can all reduce detection confidence.
Noun
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Such a designation, evidently, would save agents from wasting time chasing phantoms.
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Just in time for Halloween, the sonic phantoms that have long plagued the ladies of The View have seemingly possessed inanimate objects over on the Live With Kelly and Mark set.
Cite this Entry
“Specters.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/specters. Accessed 2 Jul. 2026.
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