noun

phantom

FAN-tuhm

noun

A ghost or ghostly figure; something that appears real but has no physical substance.

"Visitors swore they saw a phantom drifting through the old theatre."

adj

Not real or not actually present, though it seems to be.

"He complained of phantom pain in the leg he'd lost years earlier."

"Analysts blamed the crash on phantom orders flooding the market."

How to Use Phantom

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishA ghost, or more generally something that isn't really there but seems to be.

Easily confused with

phantasm

Common pairings

phantom limb phantom pain phantom figure

Phantoms plural

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Visitors swore they saw a _____ drifting through the old theatre.

From Old French fantosme, from Latin phantasma, from Greek phantazein, "to make visible" — a doublet of "phantasm."