specter Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a mental representation of some haunting experience
    ghost; spectre; shade; spook; wraith.
    • he looked like he had seen a ghost
    • it aroused specters from his past
  2. noun a ghostly appearing figure
    phantom; fantasm; apparition; spectre; phantasma; phantasm.
    • we were unprepared for the apparition that confronted us

WordNet

Spec"ter, Spec"tre noun (Also<
  • Specter
  • Spectre
)
Etymology
F. spectre, fr. L. spectrum an appearance, image, specter, fr. specere to look. See Spy, and cf. Spectrum.
Definitions
  1. Something preternaturally visible; an apparition; a ghost; a phantom.
    The ghosts of traitors from the bridge descend, With bold fanatic specters to rejoice. Dryden.
  2. (Zoöl.) (a) The tarsius. (b) A stick insect.

Webster 1913