specters
Haunting translucent figures
Specters are ghosts or phantoms—visible spirits of the dead.
The word carries a sense of dread or menace that ghost doesn't always have.
Figuratively, a specter is any looming threat or haunting presence: the specter of war, the specter of famine.
The British spelling is spectres.
Visible supernatural manifestation
- wraithSpectral apparition of someone
- poltergeistDisruptive supernatural entity
- bansheeDeath-foretelling Irish spirit
- revenantReturned from death
shade · spirit · phantom · spook · ghoul · haunt · soul · afterlife
Trouble persistently, as spirits
- possessionState of owning
- exorcismRitual to expel demons
- seanceRitual to contact spirits
- mediumMiddle size or state
clairvoyant · paranormal · eerie · chilling · creepy · ominous · uncanny · fright
Traditional stories or icons
- hauntingsSupernatural lingering presences
- hauntedOccupied by ghosts
- spiritsLiquor or apparitions
- supernaturalBeyond natural explanation
séance · apparitions · ghost stories · folktales · mythology · headless horseman · banshee · hungry ghost
Insubstantial apparition
- mirageAtmospheric optical deception
- hallucinationPerception without external cause
- chimeraUnrealistic fantasy or hybrid
- visionAbility to see
delusion · figment · apparition · shadow · silhouette · intangible · invisible · vanishing
apparition
Visible supernatural manifestation
- wraithSpectral apparition of someone
- poltergeistDisruptive supernatural entity
- bansheeDeath-foretelling Irish spirit
revenant · shade · spirit · phantom · spook · ghoul · haunt · soul · afterlife · ectoplasm
haunt
Trouble persistently, as spirits
- possessionState of owning
- exorcismRitual to expel demons
- seanceRitual to contact spirits
medium · clairvoyant · paranormal · eerie · chilling · creepy · ominous · uncanny · fright · scare
legends
Traditional stories or icons
supernatural · séance · apparitions · ghost stories · folktales · mythology · headless horseman · banshee · hungry ghost · dybbuk
phantom
Insubstantial apparition
- mirageAtmospheric optical deception
- hallucinationPerception without external cause
- chimeraUnrealistic fantasy or hybrid
vision · delusion · figment · apparition · shadow · silhouette · intangible · invisible · vanishing · fleeting
threat
Indication of potential harm
memory · past · legacy · reminder · warning · omen · dread · prospect · possibility · menace
- supernaturalghosts, ghost, witches, spirits, vampire
- ghostsapparitions, ghosts, apparition, phantoms, phantom
- haunted placeshaunted house, ghosts, haunted mansion, apparitions, haunted castle
- hauntingsghosts, apparition, apparitions, ghost sighting, phantoms
- imaginary thingsfantasies, imaginary friends, imaginary worlds, make-believe, make believe
- undeadzombie, vampire, ghost, lich, skeleton
- raise the specterSummon a worrying possibility
- pale specter
- specter at the feastPresence dampening celebration