specter

American  

[spek-ter] / ˈspɛk tər /

especially British, spectre

noun

• specters
  plural

1. 

   a visible incorporeal spirit, especially one of a terrifying nature; ghost; phantom; apparition.

   Synonyms:

   shade

2. some object or source of terror or dread.

   the specter of disease or famine.

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Synonym Usage

See ghost.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• specters
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of specter

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

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Explanation

A specter means a ghostly apparition, a ghost itself, or simply an idea that people find frightening. You can give yourself nightmares if you listen to too many stories about ghostly specters appearing in dark windows. Specters as fears are the kind that tend to loom on the edge of our minds, lying dormant for awhile, then raising their ugly heads. It can be hard to sleep if you think too much about the specter of a terrorist attack, or the specter that your blabbermouth cousin might spill the beans to your parents about the night you two took your dad's car without asking. The word can also be spelled spectre.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

specter specters

Yet the image of the male Viking warrior stubbornly lingers, drawing crowds while also haunting the galleries like a restless specter.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 23, 2026

LAX’s long-awaited Skylink train is 99% complete yet faces mounting uncertainty, as bond ratings sink into junk territory and looming 2026 deadlines raise the specter of default and termination.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026

Hackney wrote her book against the specter of another: “Hillbilly Elegy,” the 2016 bestselling memoir invoking Appalachian values by current Vice President JD Vance, who grew up outside that region in Middletown, Ohio.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

But they raise the specter among the public of rogue computers acting on their own.

From Barron's ● Jul. 29, 2026

She's a dream specter racing past the naked trees, her red hair a flame against the darkness.

From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton

Sister’s transformation is an un-haunting—it comes when she dispels the specters of shame and fear.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

Early in “Pictures of Ghosts,” an exhilarating documentary about specters onscreen and off, the Brazilian director Kleber Mendonça Filho, pulls out a VHS tape.

From New York Times ● Jan. 25, 2024

The bus plowed through dust on the road winding through the Hanford Site, the horizon dotted with specters of reactors that had been dismantled or “cocooned.”

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 22, 2023

Depending on where the ride stops, you might have a decent view of the translucent green specters chasing each other around the dining room.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2023

They stood up as the King’s caravan passed, but though some children ran toward the coaches, most remained still, gaunt as specters, knowing that nothing would come their way.

From "Huntress" by Malinda Lo

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Related Words

• demon
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