phantom 1 of 2

adjective

Definition of phantomnext
as in imaginary
not real and existing only in the imagination the company claimed that the only hazards involving its product were the phantom dangers created by consumer groups

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

phantom

2 of 2

noun

ˈfan-təm How to pronounce phantom (audio)
as in ghost
the soul of a dead person thought of especially as appearing to living people Halloween is supposed to be a time when phantoms return to walk among us

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of phantom
Adjective
As Zai’s doubts about the wedding fester, scratches begin to appear on her legs, apparently the work of the phantom bride, while the menacing of this spirit produces blemishes on her skin. — Miriam Balanescu, IndieWire, 6 Sep. 2026 In Minnesota, autism therapy spending skyrocketed by 50,000% in six years, driven in large part by fraudulent entities now facing federal indictments for tens of millions in phantom billing. — Richard Popiel, Boston Herald, 30 Aug. 2026
Noun
On the 1994 comeback album Gratuitous Sax & Senseless Violins, Sparks imagined Liberace, who died in 1987, making his own comeback in the afterlife, adored again as a phantom haunting the Earth. — Al Shipley, SPIN, 31 July 2026 Left behind are her great-grandmother’s haunting journals detailing the story of her own phantom, and subsequently, her brutal murder. — Jennifer Maas, Variety, 25 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for phantom
Recent Examples of Synonyms for phantom
  1. imaginary
  2. ghost
  3. fictitious
  4. apparition
  5. fictional
  6. spirit
  7. mythical
  8. imagined
Adjective
  • The book used an imaginary dialogue between two women to explain the principles of economics, collecting the ideas of the new science together in a way that had never before been attempted.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 26 Oct. 2026
  • Bill Irwin isn’t going anywhere — knock on all available wood — except quickly to the imaginary bathroom just off stage right several times a night as his character’s regimen of enemas kicks in.
    — Sara Holdren, Vulture, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of imaginary
Noun
  • Spirit Airlines' ghost planes The problems with young retirements predate Spirit's collapse.
    — Leslie Josephs, CNBC, 24 Oct. 2026
  • In 2026, the gemlike Brooklyn venue lent Kushner’s project a magical quality, turning the audience into ghosts from the future, eavesdropping on the fall of the Weimar Republic but unable to intervene.
    — Emily Nussbaum, New Yorker, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of ghost
Adjective
  • This Lincolnian view of the war—that the United States was perpetual and that the Confederate States of America was a fictitious, farcical nation—has led to various historical interpretations ever since, among historians and laypeople alike.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 19 Oct. 2026
  • The series will be set in a fictitious Barneys in Beverly Hills, not New York, and the real founding family of the retailer, the Pressman family, has no involvement, the spokesperson said.
    — Jean E. Palmieri, Footwear News, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of fictitious
Noun
  • The location was a former sugarcane plantation notorious for cruelty, and accounts of apparitions in the water are a reminder of this history.
    — Marcus Librizzi, The Conversation, 26 Oct. 2026
  • After the vocal chorus, Astaire sees an apparition—Pan, costumed in Halloween drag.
    — David Hajdu, Vanity Fair, 20 Oct. 2026
Definition of apparition
Adjective
  • The novel was also partly epistolary, including segments of fictional court transcripts and news coverage created by King (who enjoyed mimicking different writing styles).
    — ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 21 Oct. 2026
  • The film—based on the 2014 play Switzerland by Joanna Murray-Smith—sets a fictional scene in the final chapter of Highsmith’s life.
    — Alex Jhamb Burns, Vogue, 21 Oct. 2026
Definition of fictional
Noun
  • In the spirit of B-movie icons like Roger Corman, the film was shot in four days for $40,000 in order to celebrate Chris LaMartina’s 40th birthday.
    — William Earl, Variety, 26 Oct. 2026
  • In that spirit, three articles offering guidance across the course of a woman’s life were published Monday in Circulation.
    — Elizabeth Cooney, STAT, 26 Oct. 2026
Definition of spirit
Adjective
  • Basquiat himself was the star of Downtown 81, playing a mythic version of himself.
    — Bethy Squires, Vulture, 21 Oct. 2026
  • In their utopian reconstruction of a mythic past, the Agrarians’ polemics failed to mention the South’s legacies of slavery and rebellion.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 20 Oct. 2026
Definition of mythical
Adjective
  • The second scenario in the speculative design research is built around an imagined service called Paren’t, which proposes to preserve a parent’s AI-powered postmortem presence for their child.
    — Lissa Soep, Vox, 17 Oct. 2026
  • Drawn to the tactile and familiar qualities of paper, Teo uses playful forms and visual metaphors to transform everyday subjects and construct whimsical, imagined worlds.
    — New York Times Games, New York Times, 4 Oct. 2026
Definition of imagined

Browse Nearby Words

phantasms
phantom
phantoms
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Cite this Entry

“Phantom.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/phantom. Accessed 27 Oct. 2026.

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