as in imaginary
not real and existing only in the imagination
the company claimed that the only hazards involving its product were the phantom dangers created by consumer groups
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in ghost
the soul of a dead person thought of especially as appearing to living people
Halloween is supposed to be a time when phantoms return to walk among us
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of phantom
PCMAG, 17 Dec. 2024
The Times often published the lists of their names and regiments, like a phantom roll call: the 121st Ohio, the 11th Indiana, the 29th Michigan, the 17th Kansas, the 10th Wisconsin.
—Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times, 6 Dec. 2024
Steve Tengler, Forbes, 11 Dec. 2024
Ghosts has slowly been expanding its world over four seasons to introduce its stalwart spirits to a whole host of new phantoms.
—Katie Campione, Deadline, 5 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for phantom 
Adjective
Callahan’s vocals shine through with authority, sitting nicely in the phantom center channel.
—PCMAG, 17 Dec. 2024
The Times often published the lists of their names and regiments, like a phantom roll call: the 121st Ohio, the 11th Indiana, the 29th Michigan, the 17th Kansas, the 10th Wisconsin.
—Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times, 6 Dec. 2024
Noun
The Wizard of Oz Effect In the movie The Wizard of Oz, there’s a scene where the protagonist, Dorothy, and her band of misfits are seeking the great and powerful Oz, an amorphous wizard who appears as a phantom atop an explosion of smoke.
—Steve Tengler, Forbes, 11 Dec. 2024
Ghosts has slowly been expanding its world over four seasons to introduce its stalwart spirits to a whole host of new phantoms.
—Katie Campione, Deadline, 5 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for phantom
Recent Examples of Synonyms for phantom
Adjective
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If a planet is visible from the night side of Earth, it can only ever be seen along an imaginary path through the sky called the ecliptic.—
Jamie Carter,
Forbes,
23 Jan. 2025
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Monday’s victory was only a month and a week removed from one of the more embarrassing losses of the Knicks season, an NBA Cup quarterfinal loss Young punctuated by rolling a set of imaginary die on The Garden’s center-court logo.—
Kristian Winfield,
New York Daily News,
21 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Weathered homes built in Colonial Revival, Tudor Revival, Craftsman Bungalow, and Queen Anne styles line Hemphill like ghosts from a thriving era.—
Richard J. Gonzales,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
1 Feb. 2025
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Anyone who saw Chris McKim’s kinetic 2020 documentary collage about the late David Wojnarowicz more than likely was haunted also by the other ghost very much present in that film, Peter Hujar.—
David Rooney,
The Hollywood Reporter,
27 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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Given the clandestine nature of the process, the true number of fictitious sons who arrived during exclusion will never be known.—
Jane Hu,
The New Yorker,
23 Jan. 2025
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It’s described as a biopic, but Peppiatt admits some parts of the story are fictitious.—
Diana Lodderhose,
Deadline,
23 Jan. 2025
Noun
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There’s a kind of Gothic quality to the apparitions, calling to mind Edward Gorey figures, but all smeared and melted and smudged.—
Alissa Wilkinson,
New York Times,
2 Jan. 2025
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There have been no sightings, no fleeting apparitions.—
David Ornstein,
The Athletic,
6 Jan. 2025
Noun
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The spirit of pop from all three cities has made its way into its DNA.—
Larisha Paul,
Rolling Stone,
21 Jan. 2025
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Nordic sweaters were everywhere over the first festival weekend, as patrons got into the spirit of things.—
David Allen Jenn Ackerman,
New York Times,
21 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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According to the folklore, a mythical beast would come and devour villagers and livestock each Chinese New Year, but the beast was afraid of loud noises and the color red.—
Claire Hoppe Norgaard,
Better Homes & Gardens,
29 Jan. 2025
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Villagers dressed as cranes, roosters and mythical lions pose for portraits standing amid crops or in fallow farmland.—
Oscar Holland,
CNN,
28 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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Ukraine is a fictional state...the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic.—
Maya Mehrara,
Newsweek,
30 Jan. 2025
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Terms & Conditions, a kinetic blend of a fictional Afro-futurist narrative, archival research on decades of Black visual and multimedia work, and personal history.—
Lovia Gyarkye,
The Hollywood Reporter,
29 Jan. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near phantom
Cite this Entry
“Phantom.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/phantom. Accessed 5 Feb. 2025.
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