apparition
Americannoun
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a supernatural appearance of a person or thing, especially a ghost; a specter or phantom; wraith.
a ghostly apparition at midnight.
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anything that appears, especially something remarkable or startling.
the surprising apparition of cowboys in New York City.
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an act of appearing; manifestation.
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Astronomy. the appearance or time when a comet, especially a periodic one, is visible.
the 1986 apparition of Halley's comet.
noun
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an appearance, esp of a ghost or ghostlike figure
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the figure so appearing; phantom; spectre
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the act of appearing or being visible
Synonym Usage
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.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
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
Explanation
If you see something you think might be a ghost, you can call it an apparition to hedge your bets. Apparition doesn't commit you in the same way the word ghost does—and saying that you've seen one won't cause you to be committed. Deriving from the Latin apparere "appear," apparition was first used in 1520 in a religious context, referring to the moment when the three wise men appear before the infant Jesus in the Bible. Later, apparition came to include the appearance of ghosts, or ghostly figures. It can also mean a memory so vivid it's like seeing a ghost.
Vocabulary lists containing apparition
The Grim Reader: Wicked Words of Grave Importance for Halloween
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The Crucible
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"The Crucible" -- Vocabulary from all 4 Acts
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
While artists kept making him out to be Christ-like, they had more fun with the Mexican Marian apparition, beyond the traditional image of Her in prayer held up by a cherub.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 19, 2026
“She is Our Lady of Guadalupe,” he tells me, a Marian apparition venerated as a national icon in Mexico.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 13, 2026
According to legend, the miraculous apparition of Saints Peter and Paul during the meeting between Pope Leo I and Attila the king of the Huns in 452 AD made the latter desist from invading Italy.
From BBC ● May 9, 2025
Least expensive: “A Polaroid of an apparition of the Virgin Mary in a glass structure in Clearwater, Fla. I got it on eBay for $7.”
From New York Times ● May 16, 2024
She still thought of Blaine, saw him walking along the platform at the New Haven train station, an apparition that filled her with a doomed yearning.
From "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Boone is responsible for tremendous environmental harm but remains unrepentant, even as other apparitions materialize seeking to shame him into confessing his sins.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 23, 2026
"A lot of the time we're just scared of these apparitions that we've created and these narratives that we've foisted upon other people."
From Salon ● Aug. 21, 2024
On Friday, the Vatican’s doctrinal office will issue a revised set of norms for discerning apparitions “and other supernatural phenomena,” updating a set of guidelines first issued in 1978.
From Seattle Times ● May 16, 2024
To do so, he elicits help from fellow students, but their presentation is derailed by unlikely apparitions: a conquistador, a small child, Laura Linney.
From New York Times ● Mar. 29, 2024
In the past few days Clara had reverted to her visionary tasks, speaking with apparitions and spending hours writing in her notebooks.
From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
