phantasmal
Seemingly not real
Phantasmal means ghostly, spectral, or having the quality of a phantom—something seen but not materially present.
The word describes things that seem to exist between reality and imagination: phantasmal figures in the fog, a phantasmal memory of childhood.
It carries a literary, slightly archaic tone, favoring atmospheric description over straightforward reference to ghosts.
Visible supernatural manifestation
- specterGhostly threatening presence
- wraithSpectral apparition of someone
- shadeDarkness from blocked light
- spiritSoul, mood, or liquor
revenant · ectoplasm · manifestation · materialization · translucent · transparent · flickering · fading
Of the sky above
- transcendentExceeding usual boundaries
- otherworldlySeemingly not earthly
- incorporealNot made of matter
- immaterialLacking physical form; unimportant
nebulous · diaphanous · gossamer · luminescent · spectral · astral · sublime · rarefied
Spirit communication ritual
- mediumMiddle size or state
- clairvoyantOne who perceives beyond senses
- psychicOne claiming supernatural perception
- necromancyCommunicating with the deceased
spiritualism · occult · conjuring · summoning · possession · haunted · poltergeist · banshee
Eerily beyond normal
- unsettlingCausing unease or discomfort
- chillingCausing fear or cold
- creepyDisturbingly strange
- ominousSuggesting something bad approaches
foreboding · macabre · sinister · dreadful · haunting · disturbing · disquieting · nightmarish
apparition
Visible supernatural manifestation
- specterGhostly threatening presence
- wraithSpectral apparition of someone
- shadeDarkness from blocked light
spirit · revenant · ectoplasm · manifestation · materialization · translucent · transparent · flickering · fading · vanishing
celestial
Of the sky above
- transcendentExceeding usual boundaries
- otherworldlySeemingly not earthly
- incorporealNot made of matter
immaterial · nebulous · diaphanous · gossamer · luminescent · spectral · astral · sublime · rarefied · evanescent
séance
Spirit communication ritual
- mediumMiddle size or state
- clairvoyantOne who perceives beyond senses
- psychicOne claiming supernatural perception
necromancy · spiritualism · occult · conjuring · summoning · possession · haunted · poltergeist · banshee · paranormal
uncanny
Eerily beyond normal
- unsettlingCausing unease or discomfort
- chillingCausing fear or cold
- creepyDisturbingly strange
ominous · foreboding · macabre · sinister · dreadful · haunting · disturbing · disquieting · nightmarish · surreal
mirage
Atmospheric optical deception
- hallucinationPerception without external cause
- delusionStubbornly held false belief
- figmentImagined thing, unreal
chimera · illusion · vision · dreamlike · imaginary · unreal · fictitious · deceptive · ephemeral · fleeting
- Mysticalethereal, otherworldly, supernatural, numinous, transcendent
- unreal thingsillusion, delusion, fiction, imaginary, fake
- scary feelingsterrified, frightening, dreadful, creepiness, goosebumps
- imaginary stylesimaginary, fantastical, dreamlike, dreamy, surreal
- strangenessodd, weird, strange, bizarre, peculiar
phantasmalcorporeal
Having physical existence
physical · material · tangible · solid · substantial
phantasmalverifiable
Able to be proven
verified · demonstrable · empirical · observable · documented