#1 specter n. [ghost, shade, spook, wraith, spectre] a mental representation of some haunting experience; "he looked like he had seen a ghost"; "it aroused specters from his past". wn #2 specter n. [apparition, phantom, phantasm, phantasma, fantasm, spectre] a ghostly appearing figure; "we were unprepared for the apparition that confronted us". wn