as in ghost
the soul of a dead person thought of especially as appearing to living people
an eccentric who claimed to have photographed an apparition in her very own house
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of apparition
As the 14-year-old child of a poor family in 1858, Saint Bernadette experienced numerous apparitions of a young woman in a cave or grotto, seemingly the Virgin Mary, asking for a chapel to be built on the site.
—
Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune, 21 Feb. 2026
Our Lady, a revered apparition of the Virgin Mary, asked why Flores-Gomez had stopped singing to her.
—Alyssa N. Salcedo, jsonline.com, 20 Feb. 2026
The small museum, which opened last year, covers the creatures, apparitions and mysteries eluding prosaic explanation.
—Adam Kuehl, New York Times, 19 Feb. 2026
Though the governor left little behind to solve the ultimate mystery — where the staircase led —a rare apparition surfaced from Roman Germany, preserved for 2,000 years due to the Romans’ advanced building techniques.
—Maria Mocerino, Interesting Engineering, 14 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for apparition
Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune, 21 Feb. 2026
Our Lady, a revered apparition of the Virgin Mary, asked why Flores-Gomez had stopped singing to her.
—Alyssa N. Salcedo, jsonline.com, 20 Feb. 2026
The small museum, which opened last year, covers the creatures, apparitions and mysteries eluding prosaic explanation.
—Adam Kuehl, New York Times, 19 Feb. 2026
Though the governor left little behind to solve the ultimate mystery — where the staircase led —a rare apparition surfaced from Roman Germany, preserved for 2,000 years due to the Romans’ advanced building techniques.
—Maria Mocerino, Interesting Engineering, 14 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for apparition
Recent Examples of Synonyms for apparition
Noun
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That’s news to the ghost of President Lyndon Johnson and the still-communist capital of Hanoi.—
Pat Beall,
Sun Sentinel,
3 Apr. 2026
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Until that happens, the ghost bikes will remain — stark, silent reminders of lives cut short and a call for safer streets.—
Alexa Liacko,
CBS News,
2 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Of course, there was also John Ashbery, a presiding spirit in his body of work.—
Giles Harvey,
New Yorker,
30 Mar. 2026
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For travelers with an adventurous spirit, Costa Rica’s South Pacific is a dream come true.—
Meghan Palmer,
Condé Nast Traveler,
29 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Such a designation, evidently, would save agents from wasting time chasing phantoms.—
Adam Ciralsky,
Vanity Fair,
19 Mar. 2026
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The Stygiomedusa gigantea, commonly known as the giant phantom jelly, was filmed at 250 meters below the surface.—
Michelle Del Rey,
USA Today,
4 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Apparition.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/apparition. Accessed 5 Apr. 2026.
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