1
as in spy
a person who tries secretly to obtain information for one country in the territory of another usually unfriendly country
Russia recalled its spooks after the collapse of the Soviet Union
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
2
as in ghost
the soul of a dead person thought of especially as appearing to living people
Halloween is the night when spooks and goblins are said to roam abroad
Synonyms & Similar Words
as in to frighten
to strike with fear
the sudden noise spooked her out of her skin
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of spook
John Kell, Fortune, 1 Apr. 2026
The translation squeaks and spooks with imagery of haunts and death.
—Amber McBride, Literary Hub, 5 Nov. 2025
David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 22 May 2026
Impulsively adopting Yuri as a puppy, however, awakens some level of maternal instinct in her; the two are devoted, until Yuri runs away one New Year’s Eve, seemingly spooked by fireworks.
—Guy Lodge, Variety, 20 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for spook
Noun
Anthropic spooks cyber firms; eyes IPO.
—John Kell, Fortune, 1 Apr. 2026
The translation squeaks and spooks with imagery of haunts and death.
—Amber McBride, Literary Hub, 5 Nov. 2025
Verb
Winifried — whose preferred diminutive, also the name of the demon inside her, is Fred, not Winnie — isn’t the one being spooked here.
—David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 22 May 2026
Impulsively adopting Yuri as a puppy, however, awakens some level of maternal instinct in her; the two are devoted, until Yuri runs away one New Year’s Eve, seemingly spooked by fireworks.
—Guy Lodge, Variety, 20 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for spook
Recent Examples of Synonyms for spook
Noun
-
The bar was set high from here, but even the best Bond games have only superficially tackled the essence of the spy fantasy.—
Christopher Cruz,
Rolling Stone,
28 May 2026
-
New intelligence shows that nearly 500,000 Russian soldiers have been killed since Vladimir Putin launched his country's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, according to Anne Keast-Butler, the new head of the United Kingdom's communications and cyber spy agency.—
Ramy Inocencio,
CBS News,
28 May 2026
Noun
-
The ghost called Sidhangana, who acts as chorus, is the rainbow.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
29 May 2026
-
The series was an anthology hosted by the titular Frankelda, the ghost of an aspiring horror writer, who told stories about children encountering the paranormal.—
Wilson Chapman,
IndieWire,
28 May 2026
Verb
-
But the future Hall of Famer is coming off ACL surgery, might lack mobility, and has a receiving corps that frightens nobody.—
Troy Renck,
Denver Post,
15 May 2026
-
This war has been a disaster for them, frightening away foreign investors, tourists and talent and burdening them with a future of huge new defense bills to deter Iran after the United States is gone.—
Thomas L. Friedman,
Mercury News,
15 May 2026
Noun
-
Known for projects like Army of the Dead and a number for DC, including Zack Snyder’s Justice League, Snyder is currently in post on The Last Photograph, a drama following an ex-DEA operative and war photographer in search of a pair of missing children in South America.—
Matt Grobar,
Deadline,
1 June 2026
-
To complete the task, Rachel needs to bring in a pair of expert extractors, Sid (Cavill) and Bronco (Gyllenhaal), and their team of covert operatives because Manny lives on an island guarded by a private army whose members are locked and loaded with high-tech weaponry.—
Tim Lammers,
Forbes.com,
1 June 2026
Noun
-
That late-game run––forty-four points to the Cavs’ eleven––was as soul-crushing to Cleveland as the apparition of Willis Reed, hobbling to center court, had been to the Lakers fifty-six years ago.—
David Remnick,
New Yorker,
30 May 2026
-
The book is a poetry collection structured in three acts with seven players, each assigned a color of the rainbow and an apparition’s name, each of whom needs an audience to fully exist.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
29 May 2026
Verb
-
Stop using implausible scenarios to scare young people and the gullible with claims about global catastrophe due to future global temperature increases.—
Editorial,
Boston Herald,
29 May 2026
-
Sizable jury verdicts scare entities into expensive settlements, which raises the risk pool’s reinsurance costs and trickles down to members.—
Daniel Lempres,
Sacbee.com,
29 May 2026
Noun
-
During the search for the missing mother and daughter and Fieramusca, FBI agents followed Green.—
Emily Blackwood,
PEOPLE,
29 May 2026
-
What does work is a containment pattern that treats every agent action as an external call requiring authorization at the action level, not the session level.—
Shreyans Mehta,
Forbes.com,
28 May 2026
Noun
-
This new rye whiskey started its life in Illinois, specifically at Chicago craft distillery Koval, which makes some very… interesting spirits (the Koopers trained there as distillers).—
Jonah Flicker,
Robb Report,
31 May 2026
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As creative director of menswear at Louis Vuitton, Williams is an organic partner for Moët & Chandon, which belongs to the wines and spirits division of luxury conglomerate LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton.—
Joelle Diderich,
Footwear News,
31 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Spook.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/spook. Accessed 4 Jun. 2026.
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