phantom

1. 1.

   a ghostly appearing figure

   “we were unprepared for the apparition that confronted us”

   Synonymsapparitionphantasmphantasmafantasmspecterspectre

   Broaderspirit

   NarrowerFlying Dutchman
2. 2.

   something existing in perception only

   “a ghostly apparition at midnight”

   Synonymsapparitionphantasmphantasmafantasmshadow

   Broaderillusion

   Narrowerunidentified flying objectFlying Dutchmanghost

1. 1.

   something apparently sensed but having no physical reality

   “seemed to hear faint phantom bells”

   “the amputee's illusion of a phantom limb”

   Similarunreal

Other forms of phantom

plural

phantoms·

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about phantom

What does phantom mean?

phantom means "a ghostly appearing figure". That is the primary sense; the word has 3 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in phantom?

phantom has 2 syllables: phan-tom. The stress falls on "phan". In IPA it is /ˈfæntəm/.

What is another word for phantom?

Close synonyms include apparition, phantasm, phantasma, fantasm, specter. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is phantom a common word?

phantom is banded "Common" — everyday vocabulary in speech and writing. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.