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
show current usage.
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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
-
On Stranger Things, Harbour played police chief Jim Hopper, the surrogate father to Brown's telekinetic teen Eleven, and the new drama from A24 and Netflix finds them as estranged father-daughter spies.
-
The District of Columbia's most affluent suburb is McLean, home to diplomats and spies.
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.
Verb
-
Any loud sound just scares her terribly.
-
Look directly at the thing that scares you.
Noun
-
Political operatives tied to Florida Power & Light’s parent company were involved in the scandal, and a former Republican state senator was convicted of violating campaign finance laws.
-
That ceasefire is contingent on a complete cessation of fire by the paramilitary group Hezbollah and the evacuation of all Hezbollah operatives from the South Litani Sector, an area in southern Lebanon.
Noun
-
Typically, ghosts show up in literature when something that has been repressed escapes and becomes everyone’s problem.
-
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.
Verb
-
The thing that frightens me isn’t that machines will replace people.
-
What frightens scientists more than the sheer numbers are that the cuts are arbitrary and manifestly pernicious.
Noun
-
Before choosing a whitening method, check the care label for guidance on water temperature, safe cleaning agents, and recommended drying methods.
-
When your workforce includes full-time employees, fractional specialists and AI agents, culture becomes about how work gets done, not who does it.
Noun
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Today, the massive complex attracts paranormal investigators who report apparitions, voices, and other unexplained phenomena.
-
Why then, when discussing body image after weight changes, is our culture reaching for the language of vexing apparitions and death?
Cite this Entry
“Spooks.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/spooks. Accessed 2 Jul. 2026.
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