as in haunting
of, relating to, or suggestive of a ghost
They spotted a spectral figure in the window of the old abandoned house.
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Recent Examples of spectral
The novel, which jumps around in time from spectral reminiscences of the nineteenth century to the late 1980s and early 1990s and into the twenty-first century, follows the members of a Brooklyn family attempting to find stability while struggling with their strange attunement to the dead.
—
Omari Weekes, The New York Review of Books, 19 Mar. 2026
Superior spectral energy resolution, a superior point-spread-function, and high-contrast imaging can help enable all of these, above and beyond Chandra’s current limits.
—Big Think, 11 Mar. 2026
Still, the Kramers have found that a little spectral marketing doesn’t hurt.
—David Caraccio, Sacbee.com, 28 Feb. 2026
Convinced that their ancestors are communicating with them via dream visions, characters wander dark alleyways at night, pursuing spectral figures.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 26 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for spectral
Omari Weekes, The New York Review of Books, 19 Mar. 2026
Superior spectral energy resolution, a superior point-spread-function, and high-contrast imaging can help enable all of these, above and beyond Chandra’s current limits.
—Big Think, 11 Mar. 2026
Still, the Kramers have found that a little spectral marketing doesn’t hurt.
—David Caraccio, Sacbee.com, 28 Feb. 2026
Convinced that their ancestors are communicating with them via dream visions, characters wander dark alleyways at night, pursuing spectral figures.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 26 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for spectral
Recent Examples of Synonyms for spectral
Adjective
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Glimpses came through in the haunting stream of ambulances in empty New York City streets or images of overflowing morgues.—
Fenit Nirappil,
Washington Post,
22 Mar. 2026
-
Jose Antonio Ramos died March 7 at Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan, prosecutors wrote in a court filing in the case of Pedro Hernandez — the man now facing a third trial in Etan's haunting and infamous case.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
19 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Dark, eerie, and paranoid (for good reason), the eight-episode season shifts back and forth from the casual grimness of an unwelcoming reality to the shocking frights of a stoner’s worst nightmare (the latter of which is shrewdly motivated by Rachel regularly smoking pot).—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
26 Mar. 2026
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Multitracked saxophones swarm over a pit of molten bass frequencies, slipping between sentimental consonance—you might momentarily be reminded of Vangelis’ Blade Runner score—and eerie discord.—
Philip Sherburne,
Pitchfork,
25 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
The idea behind him, especially in the pilot, was to introduce a few creepy male figures so the Sorry Man reveal lands at the end.—
William Earl,
Variety,
28 Mar. 2026
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Thankfully, the creepy foot-fetish guys are fewer in numbers these days.—
Andy Greene,
Rolling Stone,
25 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Worryingly, the researchers found the models had a tendency to find evidence of pathologies in the phantom images, showing that the models may have a bias towards diagnosing disease that could lead to dangerous and expensive misdiagnoses if used in real-world medical settings.—
Jeremy Kahn,
Fortune,
31 Mar. 2026
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Expedia sold you a phantom flight — a route Lufthansa had already suspended.—
Christopher Elliott,
Mercury News,
30 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Avery Sullivan, with whom Morris also plays in the country-rock band Fust, keeps loose time on drums, tapping the snare like someone setting down coffee mugs while Libby Rodenbough scrapes out a few melody lines on her fiddle and colors empty spaces with some ghostly tremolo.—
Jayson Greene,
Pitchfork,
1 Apr. 2026
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When ghostly figures appear, domestic absurdity spirals in this offbeat, comic, and charming portrait of family life.—
Ryan Lattanzio,
IndieWire,
1 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Everyone got obsessed with weird things in the pandemic, like jigsaw puzzles or baking sourdough.—
Kate Bradshaw,
Mercury News,
27 Mar. 2026
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Running a restaurant can do some weird things to your head.—
Sam Stone,
Bon Appetit Magazine,
27 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Adapted from Algernon Blackwood’s supernatural novella, The Man Whom the Trees Loved is a ghostly tale of the inexplicable horrors of nature.—
Matthew Carey,
Deadline,
31 Mar. 2026
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There's also aliens or monsters or some other supernatural entity out to get them.—
Kelly Lawler,
USA Today,
30 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Spectral.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/spectral. Accessed 5 Apr. 2026.
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