variants
or spectre
as in haunt
the soul of a dead person thought of especially as appearing to living people
feeling so terrified that every shadow became a specter
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of specter
And recent funding cuts threaten to worsen the spread of drug-resistant TB, raising the specter of a world where the disease regains its early 20th-century deadliness.
—
Popular Science Team, Popular Science, 26 Mar. 2025
Today, less than 100 years after Lincoln’s death, Stalin brags that this Communist specter is not only haunting the world, but is about to completely subjugate it.
—Liz Tracey, JSTOR Daily, 24 Mar. 2025
Just one House Democrat voted against the measure, casting the specter of a shutdown as their best leverage to force constraints on DOGE's ability to freeze federal spending and fire workers.
—Andrew Solender, Axios, 21 Mar. 2025
The tariff − the highest U.S. tariff on any country − is raising the specter of steep price hikes on goods imported from China.
—Jessica Guynn, USA Today, 3 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for specter
Popular Science Team, Popular Science, 26 Mar. 2025
Today, less than 100 years after Lincoln’s death, Stalin brags that this Communist specter is not only haunting the world, but is about to completely subjugate it.
—Liz Tracey, JSTOR Daily, 24 Mar. 2025
Just one House Democrat voted against the measure, casting the specter of a shutdown as their best leverage to force constraints on DOGE's ability to freeze federal spending and fire workers.
—Andrew Solender, Axios, 21 Mar. 2025
The tariff − the highest U.S. tariff on any country − is raising the specter of steep price hikes on goods imported from China.
—Jessica Guynn, USA Today, 3 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for specter
Recent Examples of Synonyms for specter
Noun
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Options include the spooky Charlotte Ghosted Tour — which spends an hour taking you to famous haunts around the city including Settler’s Cemetery and the Bootlegger House.—
Heidi Finley,
Charlotte Observer,
8 Apr. 2025
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The seminal haunt celebrates its silver anniversary throughout the weekend of April 11-13 with a Cooperstown-like lineup of Loose Engines, Island of Black and White, Hayez, Mercy Me, Mind X, Elvis Cantu, Peter Petty, Stacie Eakes, Red’s Blues, Element Brass Band, Jimmy Pailer & Lew Fratis and more.—
Aaron Davis,
Sacbee.com,
5 Apr. 2025
Noun
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His voice is the ghost in the machine, a strangely humane presence amid all the urban-industrial pastoral.—
Rob Sheffield,
Rolling Stone,
25 Apr. 2025
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In the epic fifth and final season, Joe Goldberg returns to New York to enjoy his happily ever after… until his perfect life is threatened by the ghosts of his past and his own dark desires.—
Proma Khosla,
IndieWire,
23 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Four years later, the Broncos worked in the relative shadows once again to add a dynamic secondary piece to pair with Surtain, the NFL’s reigning Defensive Player of the Year.—
Nick Kosmider,
New York Times,
25 Apr. 2025
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While tech appears to be at the forefront of investors’ mind for now, tariffs and trade tensions still lurk in the shadows, with Intel CFO David Zinsner warning that tariffs and retaliation from other countries has increased the likelihood of a recession.—
Lim Hui Jie,
CNBC,
25 Apr. 2025
Noun
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The before-and-after pictures still astound: a skeletal wraith on the left, a rosy-cheeked child on the right.—
IEEE Spectrum,
IEEE Spectrum,
27 May 2015
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Agatha is also being pursued by her ex, Rio Vidal (Aubrey Plaza), a powerful green witch, as well as the Salem Seven, vengeful wraiths of Agatha's first coven.—
Ars Technica,
Ars Technica,
24 Dec. 2024
Noun
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Sony’s 360 Spatial Sound Mapping algorithm, which can create a phantom 5.1.4 system or higher from just four speakers, inspired vivid sonic immersion.—
Ryan Waniata,
Wired News,
2 Apr. 2025
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To combat such phantoms, Georgian Dream has passed new legislation that criminalizes assembly and protest.—
Anastasiya Zavyalova,
The Conversation,
28 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Technology The Big Story Potential chip tariffs spook tech industry President Trump’s threats to tariff semiconductors are stoking alarm within the tech sector as companies brace for ripple effects across the industry.—
Julia Shapero,
The Hill,
18 Apr. 2025
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Prouty became an ally of Carto’s and a mentor to the director Oliver Stone, who worked some of his feverish theories of power into the screenplay for JFK—Prouty is the sage, fast-talking spook played by Donald Sutherland.—
Dan Piepenbring,
Harper's Magazine,
19 Feb. 2025
Noun
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For much of its history, the Church has had to defend itself against accusations that levitations, apparitions, and other miracles were not the work of God but that of the devil.—
Emily Harnett,
Harpers Magazine,
28 Mar. 2025
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Todd, the neighbor, even the strange apparitions are obfuscated simply because of their height, which adds to the eerieness of Indy’s experience but also makes Indy’s recognition of Todd’s voice all the more emotional.—
Rafael Motamayor,
IndieWire,
10 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Specter.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/specter. Accessed 30 Apr. 2025.
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