Specter

/ˈspɛktɚ/ · noun

Meaning

A ghostly apparition, a phantom. [from 17th c.].

Definitions by Sense

1. A ghostly apparition, a phantom. [from 17th c.]
2. (figuratively) A threatening mental image; an unpleasant prospect [from 18th c.]
3. (entomology) Any of certain species of dragonfly of the genus Boyeria, family Aeshnidae. [from 20th c.]

Example Sentences

A specter haunted the cemetery at the old Vasquez manor.

Nevertheleſſe, they which ſhould ſee thoſe Iſles thus to moove in this manner, not knowing before that the ſame were naturall: they would entertaine many and diverſe apprehenſions in their fantaſie, & would imagine that they ſawe a thing very ſtrange and prodigious, and ſuch as did very neere approach to the nature of ſome Specter [translating spectre] and viſion.

A specter is haunting Europe — the specter of communism. All the powers of old Europe have entered into a holy alliance to exorcise this specter: Pope and Tsar, Metternich and Guizot, French Radicals and German police-spies.

Already, the specter of higher interest rates was causing the housing market to seize up.

Thailand's Constitutional Court on Wednesday dismissed Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin for appointing to his cabinet a former lawyer who served jail time, raising the spectre of more political upheaval and a reset of the governing alliance.

Instead of three co-equal branches acting as a check on each other, power has become increasingly concentrated over the years in the White House – a trend that is now being supercharged under Mr. Trump in ways that, to critics, raise the specter of authoritarianism.

Synonyms for specter

Antonyms for specter

Related Words

Word Forms

• specters
• spectre

Usage Notes

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