specter

Plural: specters

Noun

• A visible ghost or disembodied spirit; a haunting presence.
• a mental representation of some haunting experience
  • "it aroused specters from his past"
• a ghostly appearing figure
• A ghostly apparition, a phantom.
• A threatening mental image; an unpleasant prospect
• Any of certain species of dragonfly of the genus Boyeria, family Aeshnidae.

Examples

• A specter haunted the cemetery at the old Vasquez manor.
• The specter of a losing score haunted her every tile placement in Scrabble.

Synonyms

apparition, fantasm, ghost, phantasm, phantasma, phantom, shade, spectre, spook, wraith, barghest, duppy, eidolon, empuse, haint, haunt, jumbie, poltergeist, revenant, specter, spirit, sprite, visitant