phantasmic
Like a specter
Phantasmic describes something resembling or characteristic of a phantasm—an illusion, apparition, or figment of the imagination.
Like its near-synonyms phantasmal and ghostly, it suggests something insubstantial, dreamlike, or supernatural in quality.
The fog gave the landscape a phantasmic quality.
The word appears most often in literary or atmospheric contexts where writers want to evoke an otherworldly or hallucinatory mood.
Ghostly threatening presence
- wraithSpectral apparition of someone
- apparitionVisible supernatural manifestation
- hauntingDisturbingly unforgettable
- revenantReturned from death
banshee · shade · poltergeist · spook · ghoul · ectoplasm · manifestation · visitation
Atmospheric optical deception
- hallucinationPerception without external cause
- delusionStubbornly held false belief
- chimeraUnrealistic fantasy or hybrid
- figmentImagined thing, unreal
apparition · simulacrum · deception · distortion · false · unreal · insubstantial · trick
Dreamlike and strange
- visionaryImaginative planner of futures
- otherworldlySeemingly not earthly
- etherealDelicate beyond earthly measure
- hazyUnclear, indistinct
oneiric · nebulous · gossamer · floating · kaleidoscopic · hallucinatory · trance · fevered
Supernatural or eerie
- mysticalOf hidden spiritual significance
- arcaneUnderstood by few
- occultConcealed from view
- metaphysicalBeyond the material realm
transcendent · celestial · divine · spiritual · preternatural · eldritch · uncanny · mysterious
specter
Ghostly threatening presence
- wraithSpectral apparition of someone
- apparitionVisible supernatural manifestation
- hauntingDisturbingly unforgettable
revenant · banshee · shade · poltergeist · spook · ghoul · ectoplasm · manifestation · visitation · materialization
mirage
Atmospheric optical deception
- hallucinationPerception without external cause
- delusionStubbornly held false belief
- chimeraUnrealistic fantasy or hybrid
figment · apparition · simulacrum · deception · distortion · false · unreal · insubstantial · trick · dreamlike
surreal
Dreamlike and strange
- visionaryImaginative planner of futures
- otherworldlySeemingly not earthly
- etherealDelicate beyond earthly measure
hazy · oneiric · nebulous · gossamer · floating · kaleidoscopic · hallucinatory · trance · fevered · nocturnal
unearthly
Supernatural or eerie
metaphysical · transcendent · celestial · divine · spiritual · preternatural · eldritch · uncanny · mysterious · beyond