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spooks 1 of 2

noun

plural of spook
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

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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

spooks

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of spook
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. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of spooks
Noun
In general, most experts agree that for a foreign vote-changing scheme to work, spooks would have to get physical access to the casting and counting systems used in thousands of different locations scattered around the country. — Philip Elliott, Time, 17 July 2026 Something about the appearance of a full moon spooks Dashing, who claims to head off in search of a dangerous werewolf (a claim that later proves to be at least half true). — Tanya Sharma, PEOPLE, 11 June 2026 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 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
  1. spies
  2. spirits
  3. scares
  4. operatives
  5. ghosts
  6. frightens
  7. agents
  8. apparitions
Noun
  • Oasis featured for the first time in a Saturday Night Live UK cold open over the weekend, with the Gallagher brothers revealing themselves as Russian spies after almost convincing Prime Minister Andy Burnham to join them.
    — Max Goldbart, Deadline, 28 Sep. 2026
  • The ruling leaves one of the country’s top tech firms branded with the kind of label once reserved for foreign companies suspected of helping spies.
    — Ian Duncan, Washington Post, 25 Sep. 2026
Definition of spies
Noun
  • Upstairs, on the top floor, the bar serves vintage hard-to-get champagne and spirits by the glass.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 29 Sep. 2026
  • The 13 months since have become a collective effort to lift the spirits of Brotheron, who has also played alongside artists like Patty Griffin, Caroline Herring, Rodney Hayden, and Andy Hedges.
    — Josh Crutchmer, Rolling Stone, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of spirits
Verb
  • The good news is the team stayed positive after both injury scares.
    — Fiifi Frimpong, New York Daily News, 24 Sep. 2026
  • What scares me is to see so many people traveling so fast with electric power and with, presumably, no training!
    — Letters to the Editor, The Orlando Sentinel, 11 Sep. 2026
Definition of scares
Noun
  • Pursuing Leamas and Doris are Josef Fiedler and Hans-Dieter Mundt, two Stasi operatives whose ferocious desire to shut down the intelligence leak is matched only by their internal rivalry and an iron will to outmatch each other.
    — Max Goldbart, Deadline, 28 Sep. 2026
  • Pursuing Leamas and Doris are Josef Fiedler (Brühl) and Hans-Dieter Mundt (Kammerer), two Stasi operatives whose ferocious desire to shut down the intelligence leak is matched only by their internal rivalry and an iron will to outmatch each other.
    — Alex Ritman, Variety, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of operatives
Noun
  • Tara Badstubner explores why recent ghosts are (actually) haunting us.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 28 Sep. 2026
  • The video has so many of Taylor’s favorite tropes—weddings that turn into a mess, metaphorically breaking glass, red wine spilling, mad women, chatty ghosts, symbolic houses.
    — Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of ghosts
Verb
  • The prospect of Sean Steur or Lewis Hall — whose contract situation Wilson refused to be drawn on, despite being asked three times — leaving is not something which frightens the hierarchy.
    — Chris Waugh, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2026
  • Penelope, too, is asked to occupy a landscape that frightens her, not only as a neurodivergent child in a neurotypical culture, but as a child now situated in an adult world.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 21 Aug. 2026
Definition of frightens
Noun
  • Cseh, the archive's director, said successor governments to dictatorships rarely disclose the names of previous agents and informants, let alone records as detailed as those Hungary is preparing to release.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 30 Sep. 2026
  • Others called for a transparent investigation into the Police Department’s relationship with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
    — Sam Charles, Chicago Tribune, 29 Sep. 2026
Definition of agents
Noun
  • That is, until miraculous apparitions turn it into a place to be.
    — Marta Balaga, Variety, 17 July 2026
  • Today, the massive complex attracts paranormal investigators who report apparitions, voices, and other unexplained phenomena.
    — Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 15 June 2026
Definition of apparitions

Browse Nearby Words

spookish
spooks
spooky
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Spooks.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/spooks. Accessed 2 Oct. 2026.

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