as in haunting
of, relating to, or suggestive of a ghost
They spotted a spectral figure in the window of the old abandoned house.
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Recent Examples of spectral
His spectral like figure seems to rise from the corpse, approaching the camera’s lens before vanishing.
—
Maximilíano Durón,
ARTnews.com,
11 June 2026
Using a gas chromatograph mass spectrometer, for example, the spectral biosignatures of carbon dioxide and methane may overlap, leading to the gasses being confused with each other and signs of life being dismissed or lost.
—
Jeffrey Kluger,
Time,
1 June 2026
The spectral figures, marked by their sarong colors, imagined Zodiacs, doshas and more, operate haunto-structurally.
—
Literary Hub,
29 May 2026
Kelsey Lu’s spectral score threads these images together, adding to the dreamy quality of the film.
—
Lovia Gyarkye,
HollywoodReporter,
16 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for spectral
Maximilíano Durón,
ARTnews.com,
11 June 2026
Using a gas chromatograph mass spectrometer, for example, the spectral biosignatures of carbon dioxide and methane may overlap, leading to the gasses being confused with each other and signs of life being dismissed or lost.
—
Jeffrey Kluger,
Time,
1 June 2026
The spectral figures, marked by their sarong colors, imagined Zodiacs, doshas and more, operate haunto-structurally.
—
Literary Hub,
29 May 2026
Kelsey Lu’s spectral score threads these images together, adding to the dreamy quality of the film.
—
Lovia Gyarkye,
HollywoodReporter,
16 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for spectral
Recent Examples of Synonyms for spectral
Adjective
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But what feels most haunting about the arc of then to now, about Smith’s unfathomable issues and woes — yet obvious heart and particularly evident quest to find himself in recent years — is that his words then were spoken with a sense of arrival and past tense.
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One of the movie’s most haunting subplots involves prisoners, who are pulled from labor camps looking half-dead and subsequently folded into Michael Caine‘s soccer team at the Brit’s insistence, but possibly to his squad’s detriment.
Adjective
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Tree made eerie comments about his will just weeks before his death.
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Ahead of his Annecy premiere, Variety spoke with Kadowaki about his technique, a singular blend of 2D animation and rotoscoping underlined the eerie atmosphere of his coming-of-age story.
Adjective
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Props, too, to director of photography Tyson Perkins for cloaking it with moody shadows that fosters its creepy feel.
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The last four movies have had creepy, menacing characters such as Sid, Stinky Pete, Gabby Gabby and the Bensons ventriloquist dummies.
Adjective
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Across demographics, though, teens are reporting difficult job searches, taking to Reddit and TikTok with rants about phantom postings, managers who ghost them and applications that go nowhere.
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This can help you to cut electronics that would otherwise remain in standby mode, using phantom energy all day long.
Adjective
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As Samara Morgan, the lank-haired little girl dressed in white and possessing deadly supernatural powers, at just 12 years old Chase became the ghostly face of the film and its most recognizable character.
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How did the ghostly choir samples of Philly drill pop up in Stockton goon music?
Adjective
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So, that was kind of quite weird.
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But storefronts across the city have long been weird hodgepodges, rife with misspellings and aesthetic incoherence.
Adjective
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These thin sheets of lead containing scratches of supernatural desires were used to sway a court case, target a rival, or even a lover, as per Archaeology News.
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In the popular imagination, romantasy is a heterosexual affair, centered on mortal heroines and their supernatural suitors.
Cite this Entry
“Spectral.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/spectral. Accessed 27 Jun. 2026.
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