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
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
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
-
Byunghun and Jimin will play the undercover spies.—
Denise Petski,
Deadline,
24 Mar. 2026
-
These mechanical quadrupeds, made by the likes of Boston Dynamics and Ghost Robotics, can patrol premises, scanning the perimeter for intruders, spies, and other ne’er-do-wells, and sound the alarm when holes in fences or other suspicious things are detected.—
Alexei Oreskovic,
Fortune,
19 Mar. 2026
Noun
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The vice president of the Gardner PTA, Oralia Rodriguez, even brought ice cream to campus in an effort to lift spirits.—
Da Lin,
CBS News,
28 Mar. 2026
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Pernod Ricard has spent recent years moving away from wine and toward spirits, including the December sale of Mumm Napa to Trinchero Family Wine & Spirits.—
Aidin Vaziri,
San Francisco Chronicle,
28 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Geopolitical scares that faded and allowed oil prices to recede.—
Chris Isidore,
CNN Money,
3 Mar. 2026
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He’s also been involved in multiple injury scares to star players in the last year.—
Bennett Durando,
Denver Post,
28 Feb. 2026
Noun
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In 2024 Israeli operatives infiltrated Hezbollah’s supply chain and used shell companies to sell members pagers and walkie-talkies rigged with explosives.—
Deni Ellis Béchard,
Scientific American,
26 Mar. 2026
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Though appearing to be ordinary citizens to their friends, neighbors and even their own children, both parents are in fact elite North Korean operatives working to destabilize the South from within.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
25 Mar. 2026
Noun
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That’s how ghosts come to haunt a place.—
JD Barker,
Rolling Stone,
25 Mar. 2026
-
Of course, ne’er-do-wells saw an opportunity to dress up and commit crimes as ghosts.—
Popular Science Team,
Popular Science,
25 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
The piercing sunlight frightens her.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
23 Feb. 2026
-
Like the 1987 Kurt Vonnegut novel from which the restaurant took its name, Bluebeard encourages guests to drop their guard, surround themselves with other people and try something that frightens them a little.—
USA TODAY NETWORK,
USA Today,
11 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Congress’s February efforts to resolve the shutdown were complicated by the lawless ICE campaign in Minneapolis, where federal agents killed two American citizens during a brutal crackdown on protests.—
Benjamin Wallace-Wells,
New Yorker,
29 Mar. 2026
-
The Keep Air Travel Safe Act, filed in October, extended the protection to Transportation Security Administration agents.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
28 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Acosta’s bright shapes could be seen as apparitions of a sort.—
Ray Mark Rinaldi,
Denver Post,
30 Mar. 2026
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On top of these apparitions, a human foe, whose motives for committing a crime seem rather nebulous, also exists.—
Carlos Aguilar,
Variety,
15 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Spooks.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/spooks. Accessed 3 Apr. 2026.
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