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

At a time of high infant mortality and short lifespans, the specter of early death hangs over them as friends and family members die with great and sudden frequency.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026

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

Greenlandic politicians use the specter of U.S. involvement in the island to accelerate European investments in its mining projects as well.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 7, 2026

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 the nearer the big day approached, the more the specter of Lina haunted us as we did jumping jacks in the Lina Lovaton Gymnasium.

From "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez

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

Not even Dickensian “A Christmas Carol” visitations by the specters of his father and an Indonesian business partner negotiating a project involving a sandstone reservoir with “significant extraction costs” diminish his concomitant guilt and chagrin.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 26, 2026

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

They do not stir the air, sparing you the torment of airborne specters like dust and dander.

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 20, 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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