apparition

[ ap-uh-rish-uhn ]

/ ˌæp əˈrɪʃ ən /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR apparition ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a supernatural appearance of a person or thing, especially a ghost; a specter or phantom; wraith: a ghostly apparition at midnight.

anything that appears, especially something remarkable or startling: the surprising apparition of cowboys in New York City.

an act of appearing; manifestation.

Astronomy. the appearance or time when a comet, especially a periodic one, is visible: the 1986 apparition of Halley's comet.

Nearby words

apparent temperature, apparent time, apparent wind, apparentement, apparently, apparition, apparitor, appassionato, appd., appeal, appeal play

Origin of apparition

1400–50; late Middle English apparicio(u)n < Anglo-French, Old French < Late Latin appāritiōn- (stem of appāritiō, as calque of Greek epipháneia epiphany), equivalent to Latin appārit(us) (past participle of appārēre; see appear) + -iōn- -ion

SYNONYMS FOR apparition

1 spirit, shade.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR apparition ON THESAURUS.COM

Related forms

ap·pa·ri·tion·al, adjectivenon·ap·pa·ri·tion·al, adjective

Synonym study

1. Apparition, phantasm, phantom are terms for a supernatural appearance. An apparition of a person or thing is an immaterial appearance that seems real, and is generally sudden or startling in its manifestation: an apparition of a headless horseman. Both phantom and phantasm denote an illusory appearance, as in a dream; the former may be pleasant, while the latter is usually frightening: a phantom of loveliness; a monstrous phantasm.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for apparition

And then Further is gone, back on the road, like a time-traveling relic from another era or an apparition of Jerry Garcia.
On the Road With Kesey's (Drug-Free) Acid Test|Nina Strochlic|August 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Mukamazimpaka also last reported seeing an apparition in 1989.
Did the Virgin Mary Warn Rwanda’s Holiest Town of the Genocide?|Nina Strochlic|April 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
His challenge to use this week to cast the race as between two flesh-and-blood men, not the apparition of 2008.
Democratic Convention Dilemma: Obama 2012 vs. Obama 2008|Howard Kurtz|September 4, 2012|DAILY BEAST
One of the most interested suitors, sources say, is Bob Berney, an indie veteran and the co-founder of Apparition.
The Hottest Property at Sundance|Nicole LaPorte|January 25, 2010|DAILY BEAST

Like a man but half awake, obeying an apparition, Mr. Kendal put his hand into his pocket and gave her the key.
The Young Step-Mother|Charlotte M. Yonge
The sight of Peter Oliphant, so unexpected an apparition, made her dumb.
A Widow's Tale and Other Stories|Mrs. (Margaret) Oliphant
The apparition or whatever it was that had taken the likeness of G—had disappeared.
Indian Ghost Stories|S. Mukerji
Among the most celebrated visits of this body was that of 1066, when the apparition attracted universal attention.
The Story of the Heavens|Robert Stawell Ball
By a perfectly natural process there rose in the stillness beyond the uncurtained window the apparition of his First Love.
The Quaint Companions|Leonard Merrick

British Dictionary definitions for apparition

apparition

/ (ˌæpəˈrɪʃən) /

noun

an appearance, esp of a ghost or ghostlike figure

the figure so appearing; phantom; spectre

the act of appearing or being visible

Word Origin for apparition

C15: from Late Latin appāritiō, from Latin: attendance, from appārēre to appear

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012