1. A ghostly appearing figure
   "we were unprepared for the specter that confronted us";
   - apparition, phantom, phantasm, phantasma, fantasm, spectre [Brit, Cdn]
    
2. A mental representation of some haunting experience
   "it aroused specters from his past";
   - ghost, shade, spook, wraith, spectre [Brit, Cdn]

Derived forms: specters

Type of: apparition, disembodied spirit, fantasm, phantasm, phantasma, phantom, shadow, spirit

Encyclopedia: Specter, Michael