specter

noun

spec·​ter ˈspek-tər 

variants or spectre

1

: a visible disembodied spirit : ghost

2

: something that haunts or perturbs the mind : phantasm

the specter of hunger

Synonyms

• apparition
• bogey
• bogie
• bogy
• familiar spirit
• ghost
• hant [dialect]
• haunt [chiefly dialect]
• materialization
• phantasm
• fantasm
• phantom
• poltergeist
• shade
• shadow
• spirit
• spook
• sprite
• vision
• visitant
• wraith

Examples of specter in a Sentence

feeling so terrified that every shadow became a specter

Recent Examples on the Web

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

President Donald Trump's announcement Wednesday of stiff new tariffs on products from China and other trade partners raises the specter of retaliatory measures that could further limit access or raise prices on minerals. —Lee Habeeb, MSNBC Newsweek, 3 Apr. 2025

The rates Trump announced increase U.S. import taxes on foreign goods to levels not seen since World War II, and raised the specter of a global trade war. —Faith E. Pinho, Los Angeles Times, 2 Apr. 2025

The specter of 2011 was invoked up there, and that’s the season when the Giants traded for a future Hall of Famer who gave them some of the best production of his career. —Grant Brisbee, New York Times, 26 Mar. 2025

Word History

Etymology

French spectre, from Latin spectrum appearance, specter, from specere to look, look at — more at spy

First Known Use

1605, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing specter

• raised the specter of
• the specter of (something)

Rhymes for specter

• hector
• lector
• nectar
• rector
• sector
• spectre
• vector
• bisector
• collector
• connector
• corrector
• defector

Kids Definition

specter

noun

spec·​ter

variants or spectre

ˈspek-tər 

1

: ghost

2

: something that bothers the mind