1
as in spies
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 spirits
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 scares
to strike with fear
the sudden noise spooked her out of her skin
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of spooks
Alex James Kane, Forbes.com, 22 May 2026
Remember that movement spooks turkeys more than anything else.
—Bruce Brady, Outdoor Life, 8 Apr. 2026
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
There are even more spooks in the follow-up season, The Haunting of Bly Manor.
—Kelsie Gibson, PEOPLE, 23 Oct. 2025
Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield are iconic characters that are wonderfully resurrected in this remake, the spooks are top notch, and the whole thing looks, sounds, and plays unbelievably.
—Oliver Brandt, MSNBC Newsweek, 28 Aug. 2025
Usa Today, USA Today, 4 Nov. 2025
Noun
Portofiro and the baroque universe surrounding it—communists on-world, techno-fascists offplanet, and all manner of augmentoids and spooks in the immaterial planes between—can make for a dizzying read.
—Alex James Kane, Forbes.com, 22 May 2026
Remember that movement spooks turkeys more than anything else.
—Bruce Brady, Outdoor Life, 8 Apr. 2026
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
There are even more spooks in the follow-up season, The Haunting of Bly Manor.
—Kelsie Gibson, PEOPLE, 23 Oct. 2025
Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield are iconic characters that are wonderfully resurrected in this remake, the spooks are top notch, and the whole thing looks, sounds, and plays unbelievably.
—Oliver Brandt, MSNBC Newsweek, 28 Aug. 2025
Verb
That confidence spooks your rivals!
—Usa Today, USA Today, 4 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for spooks
Noun
-
Big tech and corporate spies Grady’s stewardship of state money has been questioned in the past.—
Shirsho Dasgupta,
Miami Herald,
18 June 2026
-
Kaarsbo—who had spent fifteen years working alongside Americans in Iraq and Afghanistan—was not too concerned about professional spies.—
Ben Taub,
New Yorker,
15 June 2026
Noun
-
Thank you for a plethora of news on June 17 that didn’t crush our spirits.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
21 June 2026
-
As one of the world’s largest spirits conglomerates, the company certainly had access to some choice, well-aged stocks.—
David Thomas Tao,
Forbes.com,
21 June 2026
Verb
-
Sherman acknowledged that pregnancy scares her, too.—
Emlyn Travis,
Entertainment Weekly,
16 June 2026
-
Even horror shows are written from a place of what scares the author the most, and most sci-fi shows are grounded in human truth.—
Damon Wise,
Deadline,
11 June 2026
Noun
-
That same year, a Russian helicopter pilot who defected was killed in Spain, with Russian operatives as the prime suspects.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
16 June 2026
-
Reporting showed political operatives with ties to FPL helped orchestrate the scheme.—
Nate Monroe,
The Orlando Sentinel,
16 June 2026
Noun
-
Now adults and estranged, the siblings battle perception, reality, legacy and plenty of ghosts.—
Clare Mulroy,
USA Today,
20 June 2026
-
Co-stars include Aaron Paul and Bryce Dallas Howard in the story of two fraudulent paranormal investigators who are forced to face real ghosts and the lies underpinning their business.—
Pat Saperstein,
Variety,
19 June 2026
Verb
-
What frightens scientists more than the sheer numbers are that the cuts are arbitrary and manifestly pernicious.—
Business Columnist,
Los Angeles Times,
11 June 2026
-
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
Noun
-
Federal drug agents are trying to stop the FIFA World Cup from becoming a cash cow for drug dealers who hope to profit from the millions of domestic and international visitors headed to North Texas.—
Marvin Hurst,
CBS News,
20 June 2026
-
Last year, amid a federal deportation surge, ICE agents there tackled protesters and made numerous arrests.—
E. Tammy Kim,
New Yorker,
20 June 2026
Noun
-
Today, the massive complex attracts paranormal investigators who report apparitions, voices, and other unexplained phenomena.—
Kaif Shaikh,
Interesting Engineering,
15 June 2026
-
Why then, when discussing body image after weight changes, is our culture reaching for the language of vexing apparitions and death?—
Virgie Tovar,
Forbes.com,
14 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Spooks.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/spooks. Accessed 23 Jun. 2026.
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