phantom
[noun]
Synonyms:
- spectre, apparition, ghost, phantasm, shade (literary), spirit, spook (informal), wraith
- illusion, figment of the imagination, hallucination, vision

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English Thesaurus: ghost, spirit, apparition, poltergeist, spook, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

I. phan‧tom¹ /ˈfæntəm/ noun [countable] literary
[Date: 1200-1300; Language: Old French; Origin: fantosme, from Latin phantasma; ⇒ phantasm]

1. the image of a dead person or strange thing that someone thinks they see Synonym : ghost

2. something that exists only in your imagination

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

II. phantom² adjective [only before noun]

1. literary seeming to appear to someone:
a phantom ship

2. not real, but seeming real to the person affected:
a phantom pregnancy

3. made to seem real in order to deceive people:
Phantom contracts were used to make the company seem more successful than it was.

4. used humorously to describe an unknown person that you blame for something annoying:
The phantom pen stealer strikes again!

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

ghost the spirit of a dead person that some people think they can feel or see in a place:
His ghost is believed to haunt the house.
spirit a creature without a physical body, such as an angel or ghost:
evil spirits
the spirit world
apparition an image of a dead person that someone sees suddenly for a short time:
He claimed to have seen an apparition in the church.
poltergeist a ghost that people cannot see, which throws things or moves things around:
The house was haunted by a poltergeist that makes things move around all by themselves, sometimes quite big things like beds or wardrobes.
spook informal a ghost:
I’m not scared of spooks.
phantom literary a frightening and unclear image of a dead person:
They had seen phantoms gliding on the surface of the water.
spectre British English, specter American English literary a ghost, especially a frightening one:
She had looked like a spectre.
The following night, the spectre appeared again.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲