spectral
Other forms: spectrally
When something is spectral, it has a ghostlike quality; it seems to vanish or disappear. You may have heard of ghosts referred to as "specters": that means that they're spectral.
You may recognize the spect part of the adjective spectral from words like "spectacle," "spectrum," and "spectacular." All of these words share a similar meaning, which comes from the Latin verb specere, "look at, view." When something is spectral, think of it as something ghostly, something you can see but not touch — though it won't always mean that literally. For example, after a long illness, someone might have a spectral appearance.
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resembling or characteristic of a phantom“spectral emanations”synonyms: apparitional, ghostlike, ghostly, phantasmal, spiritualsupernaturalnot existing in nature or subject to explanation according to natural laws; not physical or material
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relating to an array of the components of an emission“spectral colors”“spectral analysis”
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Vocabulary lists containing spectral
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This narrative poem, written in a meter that recalls the sound of a galloping horse’s hooves, tells the apocryphal story of Paul Revere warning colonial Americans of a looming British invasion. Read the poem here.
This terrifying gothic tale imagines the tortures experienced by prisoners during the Spanish Inquisition. Read the full text here. Click here to explore other works by Edgar Allan Poe.