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 game’s narrative eventually shows the player how digital systems can be co-opted for political purposes by the companies that run them, and how the spectral frisson of virtual likes and online exchanges can, in time, flatten us.
—
Simon Parkin, The Atlantic, 23 June 2025
The series also serves as the MCU’s introduction of spectral magic meeting tech via the villainous character The Hood (Anthony Ramos), a low-level criminal who stumbles upon a magical cloak powered by the same forces depicted in Doctor Strange.
—Anthony D'alessandro, Deadline, 23 June 2025
The purpose of the maze target is to calibrate the positioning of the laser scanner mirror and characterize the laser's focus, which requires a target with sharply contrasting spectral responses.
—Stefanie Waldek, Space.com, 6 June 2025
The spare but spectral landscapes recall Julie Taymor’s Shakespearean adaptation Titus as well as the supernal opening that Vilmos Zsigmond photographed for Scarecrow, Jerry Schatzberg’s 1970s exploration of American anomie.
—Armond White, National Review, 4 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for spectral
Simon Parkin, The Atlantic, 23 June 2025
The series also serves as the MCU’s introduction of spectral magic meeting tech via the villainous character The Hood (Anthony Ramos), a low-level criminal who stumbles upon a magical cloak powered by the same forces depicted in Doctor Strange.
—Anthony D'alessandro, Deadline, 23 June 2025
The purpose of the maze target is to calibrate the positioning of the laser scanner mirror and characterize the laser's focus, which requires a target with sharply contrasting spectral responses.
—Stefanie Waldek, Space.com, 6 June 2025
The spare but spectral landscapes recall Julie Taymor’s Shakespearean adaptation Titus as well as the supernal opening that Vilmos Zsigmond photographed for Scarecrow, Jerry Schatzberg’s 1970s exploration of American anomie.
—Armond White, National Review, 4 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for spectral
Recent Examples of Synonyms for spectral
Adjective
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The sobering and haunting experience, MacDonald said, has sparked an interest in how the search for missing persons can be improved.—
Kendrick Calfee,
Kansas City Star,
29 June 2025
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The video plays clips of the Weeknd singing the haunting lyrics in front of several cement backdrops that show the star stuck in a sort of purgatory.—
Tomás Mier,
Rolling Stone,
6 June 2025
Adjective
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By the time of totality at 3:20 p.m., dense clouds obscured the view, with an eerie darkness and a golden horizon.—
Jamie Carter,
Forbes.com,
23 July 2025
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That kind of eerie alignment is how the song came into the world in the first place.—
Sarah Grant,
Rolling Stone,
23 July 2025
Adjective
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Written about British occultist Aleister Crowley and released in the United States a year after Osbourne’s album debuted, the song projected creepy organ sounds straight from Dracula’s coffin before monster guitar playing from Rhoades drove a stake through any sympathy for the devil.—
Melissa Ruggieri,
USA Today,
23 July 2025
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Others are not so great—like week-long heat advisories and unwelcome house guests in the form of creepy, crawly millipedes.—
Tara Massouleh McCay,
Southern Living,
21 July 2025
Adjective
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The system notices when safety sensors aren’t talking to each other right and fixes them before those phantom braking glitches.—
Raghu Para,
Forbes.com,
10 July 2025
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For another, a one-and-done remedy for the condition’s most debilitating manifestations is, quite simply, a phantom goal.—
Caren Zucker,
The Atlantic,
6 July 2025
Adjective
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Ghost Tour: Take a night tour through the eerie streets of Bisbee, known for its haunted past and the ghostly tales of its mining days.—
Richard Tribou,
The Orlando Sentinel,
4 July 2025
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Their love is reignited in the most unlikely form, but not everyone welcomes her return—especially March’s family, still unsettled by a ghostly presence that appeared after a factory worker’s death forced their business to close.—
Andreas Wiseman,
Deadline,
1 July 2025
Adjective
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The Earrings of Madame de… is a weird morality tale—heavy on dramatic irony, and EXCELLENT dresses.—
Brittany Allen,
Literary Hub,
1 Aug. 2025
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Because this is college football, there are lots of weird details.—
Jason Kirk,
New York Times,
1 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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But the film embraces a twist on the classic by introducing a supernatural element — the afterlife.—
Mekishana Pierre Published,
EW.com,
29 July 2025
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The upcoming second season promises eight episodes of more deadpan humor, soulless glares and even a Lady Gaga cameo, as Wednesday takes on another eerie supernatural mystery at Nevermore Academy.—
Grace Tucker,
The Enquirer,
29 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Spectral.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/spectral. Accessed 5 Aug. 2025.
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