variants
or spectre
as in haunt
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 specter
But Trump still brandishes the specter of institutional antisemitism, among other false accusations, to try to seize government control of Harvard’s admissions, faculty staffing, and curriculum decisions for its own political biases.
—
Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Time, 7 July 2025
The continent was already reeling from the war in Ukraine and increasingly worried about the specter of Russian aggression.
—Florence Gaub, Foreign Affairs, 24 June 2025
But the mere specter of them returning spooked the workers enough to bring the project to a temporary halt.
—Roger Vincent, Los Angeles Times, 21 June 2025
Officials have raised the specter of TikTok sharing user data with the Chinese government, which the company denies.
—Los Angeles Times, 7 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for specter
Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Time, 7 July 2025
The continent was already reeling from the war in Ukraine and increasingly worried about the specter of Russian aggression.
—Florence Gaub, Foreign Affairs, 24 June 2025
But the mere specter of them returning spooked the workers enough to bring the project to a temporary halt.
—Roger Vincent, Los Angeles Times, 21 June 2025
Officials have raised the specter of TikTok sharing user data with the Chinese government, which the company denies.
—Los Angeles Times, 7 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for specter
Recent Examples of Synonyms for specter
Noun
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This wealthy municipality west of Lisbon was a turn-of-the-century haunt for aristocrats in search of its therapeutic thermal waters, before finding wartime fame in the 1940s as a den of espionage on both sides thanks to Portugal’s neutrality.—
Zoë Dare Hall,
Forbes.com,
18 July 2025
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The bar, once a haunt of the dean of Los Angeles food writing Jonathan Gold, closed in 2024.—
James Powel,
USA Today,
10 July 2025
Noun
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In the present, Belly whips the bracelet Jere brought her back from Cabo across the room and shuffles around campus like a ghost, seeing visions of him everywhere.—
Sara Netzley,
EW.com,
16 July 2025
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Also, the fact that Ken gets cursed by a crazy old ghost actually helps Momo in her alien abduction predicament, with Momo’s newfound spiritual abilities helping to curb Ken’s curse.—
Ollie Barder,
Forbes.com,
13 July 2025
Noun
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In 2018, she was spotted at SiriusXM Studios rocking an ombré blonde cropped cut, smoky purple shadow, and a nude lip—still serving, still unbothered.—
Larry Stansbury,
Essence,
18 July 2025
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The blacks of suits and the whites of shirts and balloons look accurate and generally show strong detail in most shots, though the former can appear washed-out or lose a bit of shadow detail to muddiness depending on the shot.—
PC Magazine,
PC Magazine,
18 July 2025
Noun
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This is a pen that is both weighty and lighthearted – fitting for the home of Bilbo and Frodo Baggins, whose life of bonhomie and good cheer was disrupted by adventure and dragons and ring wraiths and war.—
Erik Kain,
Forbes.com,
12 June 2025
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The First Shadow was an effect as magical as the telekinetic wraiths emanating above the actors’ bodies.—
Taylor Antrim,
Vogue,
30 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Joy Behar's militia of terroristic digital devices, aural phantoms followedThe View moderator back to her post and wasted no time making their presence known at the top of Monday's episode.—
EW.com,
EW.com,
7 July 2025
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Rubin hopes to tally these same sorts of deep-space particles, the kind that all of Earth is constantly microdosing, phantom starlight from the farthest reaches of the universe.—
Michael Jones McKean,
The Atlantic,
23 June 2025
Noun
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George’s horse spooks and flees; looking up at a ridge, Joe sees Yé’iitsoh.—
Rafaela Bassili,
Vulture,
7 Apr. 2025
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The line-up of spooks will be familiar to fans of the British show, with some twists to account for French culture and history.—
Stewart Clarke,
Deadline,
4 Apr. 2025
Noun
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If the humor clicks with you, there’s joy to be had in accidentally setting yourself on fire over and over again while being chased by a Slenderman-like apparition made of Post-Its.—
Christopher Cruz,
Rolling Stone,
19 June 2025
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Venus reaches its point of greatest western elongation on June 1, at which time the dazzling 'morning star' will be at its most distant point from the sun in Earth's sky during its pre-dawn apparition.—
Anthony Wood,
Space.com,
31 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Specter.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/specter. Accessed 24 Jul. 2025.
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