spectre

The worrying possibility that something bad will happen.

• The spectre of war frightened everyone.
• Job cuts raised the spectre of unemployment.
• The spectre of another drought hangs over the region.

How to use it: the spectre of something (The spectre of poverty worried the family.)

Similar words: threat

Common phrases: spectre of war, raise the spectre, spectre of unemployment

The visible form of a dead person, believed to appear to living people.

• A spectre appeared at the window.
• They claimed to have seen a spectre in the castle.
• The pale spectre vanished before dawn.

Similar words: ghost, apparition, phantom

Common phrases: pale spectre, ghostly spectre, see a spectre