View synonyms for specter

specter

[ spek-ter ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

a visible incorporeal spirit, especially one of a terrifying nature; ghost; phantom; apparition.
Synonyms: shade
some object or source of terror or dread:
the specter of disease or famine.

Origin of specter¹

First recorded 1595–1605; from Latin spectrum “appearance, form”; spectrum

Despite his efforts to live in the present, he seemed haunted by the specter of his father.

Against the Grain By Michael Specter, The New Yorker Should you go gluten-free?

The specter of wrongful convictions haunts the public officials involved.

The specter of this virus fills some of our most stalwart souls with unreasoning dread even when it is no immediate threat.

If 80,000 is the population of Danbury, 60 million is the population of California and Texas combined: no small specter, that.

The fatality of war was now hovering over them like a huge black specter.

Lightbody, overturning chair and table, sprang up—recoiling as one recoils before an avenging specter.

Two of them, the latter and Moreau, saw the specter of French sovereignty beckoning them on.

In the midst of their furious, living activity, the specter of death had suddenly appeared.

Meanwhile a Northern politician brought on the specter of Napoleon for a different purpose.

April 25, 2024firkin

[fur-kin ]

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