specter
Americannoun
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specters
plural
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a visible incorporeal spirit, especially one of a terrifying nature; ghost; phantom; apparition.
- Synonyms:
- shade
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some object or source of terror or dread.
the specter of disease or famine.
Synonym Usage
See ghost.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of specter
First recorded 1595–1605; from Latin spectrum “appearance, form”; see spectrum
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.
Vocabulary lists containing specter
The Grim Reader: Wicked Words of Grave Importance for Halloween
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A Christmas Carol
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Uncanny, Creepy, or Downright Scary: Words For Halloween
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
The specter of higher sales taxes could have made many state residents shop across state borders with lower sales taxes, Blouin said.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026
But they raise the specter among the public of rogue computers acting on their own.
From Barron's ● Jul. 29, 2026
With the planned reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, the specter of a prolonged crunch in energy supplies has faded, and with it the risk of a severe downturn in the global economy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026
He was a regular on “Midday Live With Bill Boggs” and something of a specter for me.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 12, 2026
Then there was dysentery, the specter of which was raised with every loose stool.
From "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini
Donors respond to big claims and menacing specters.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 29, 2026
Pouting “But I have Global Entry!” as she settles into the waiting room with her fellow specters is just the beginning of her afterlife antics.
From Salon ● Sep. 9, 2024
The mysteries around Annie’s murder and the frozen scientists link up so beautifully to the tensions within Ennis that the continued sprinkling of specters, flashbacks and various uncanny events has gotten distracting.
From New York Times ● Feb. 4, 2024
The conversations Adam has with the specters of his parents in “All of Us Strangers” bear the unmistakable imprint of that experience.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 20, 2023
In the dim flashlight beam, her face looked like one of Nico’s specters.
From "The Battle of the Labyrinth" by Rick Riordan
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.
