spectre
Haunting translucent figure
A spectre is a ghost or phantom—an apparition of the dead that haunts the living.
More commonly, spectre refers to something feared or dreaded that looms over a situation: the spectre of war, the spectre of famine.
The word carries a sense of dread and foreboding that ghost lacks.
This is the British spelling; Americans typically write specter. (Capitalized Spectre may refer to the fictional crime organization.)
Visible supernatural manifestation
- phantomInsubstantial apparition
- wraithSpectral apparition of someone
- shadeDarkness from blocked light
- spiritSoul, mood, or liquor
revenant · poltergeist · banshee · spook · phantasm · haunt · manifestation · presence
Source of potential harm
- forebodingFearful anticipation of harm
- dreadIntense anticipatory fear
- loomingAppearing threateningly close
- shadowLight blocked by object
fear · doom · apprehension · unease · anxiety · sinister · darkness · gloom
Not made of matter
- intangibleNot physically present
- insubstantialLacking physical or material substance
- immaterialLacking physical form; unimportant
- translucentPermitting diffused light passage
ephemeral · gossamer · otherworldly · unearthly · diaphanous · vaporous · wispy · fleeting
apparition
Visible supernatural manifestation
spirit · revenant · poltergeist · banshee · spook · phantasm · haunt · manifestation · presence · entity
menace
Source of potential harm
- forebodingFearful anticipation of harm
- dreadIntense anticipatory fear
- loomingAppearing threateningly close
shadow · fear · doom · apprehension · unease · anxiety · sinister · darkness · gloom · harbinger
incorporeal
Not made of matter
- intangibleNot physically present
- insubstantialLacking physical or material substance
- immaterialLacking physical form; unimportant
translucent · ephemeral · gossamer · otherworldly · unearthly · diaphanous · vaporous · wispy · fleeting · airy
- spellingscolour, color, favour, favor, honour
- DickensCharles Dickens, Dickens, Oliver Twist, Great Expectations, A Christmas Carol
spectreflesh and blood
One's close relatives
physical body · mortal · flesh · body · human
spectreliving being
Organism that's alive
living soul · mortal · survivor · the quick · life force
- political spectrumRange of belief systems
- color spectrumVisible wavelength continuum
- on the spectrumHaving autism traits
- spectator sportsGames watched, not played
- light spectrumRange of electromagnetic wavelengths
- broad spectrumCovering many categories
respect, suspect, inspect, perspective, spectrum, spectacle, spectator, specter, spectral