English Dictionary
Definition of “phantom”
phantom (ˈfæntəm
)
Definitions
noun
- an apparition or spectre
- ((as modifier) ⇒
a phantom army marching through the sky
- the visible representation of something abstract, esp as appearing in a dream or hallucination ⇒
phantoms of evil haunted his sleep
- something apparently unpleasant or horrific that has no material form
- medicine another name for manikin (sense 2b)
Word Origin
C13: from Old French fantosme, from Latin phantasmaphantasm
Synonyms
View thesaurus entry
=
spectre,
ghost,
spirit,
shade,
spook,
apparition,
wraith,
revenant,
phantasm,
eidolon,
Usage examples
A different Saint-Esprit had emerged, with a phantom runway inside Dr Barbara's head, on which strange cargoes were being landed.
Ballard, J. G., Rushing to Paradise (1994)This is an anti-war approach geared more towards saving ourselves (from largely phantom problems) than anyone else.
Spiked (2004)In what we so winsomely refer to as "the real world," the perfect balance of action and reaction is a phantom never glimpsed.
Globe and Mail (2003)Monday: Merck, the US drugs giant, sets the scene, admitting booking phantom sales of more than $12.4 billion.
Times, Sunday Times (2002)But then she described the phantom of a boy on roller skates!
Rogo, D Scott, Psychic Breakthroughs Today (1987)
