specters

Noun

specter (plural specters)

1. (US) A ghostly apparition, a phantom.
   • A specter haunted the cemetery at the old Vasquez manor.

   Synonyms:

   wraith, spook

2. (US, figuratively) A threatening mental image; an unpleasant prospect
   • The specter of an election-vote recount is this year's political bogeyman.
3. (US) Any of certain species of dragonfly of the genus Boyeria, family Aeshnidae.
4. (US) Any of various species of Asian danaid butterflies of the genus Idea, family Nymphalidae.
   • The large and handsome spectre-butterfly, Hestia durvillei; the pale-winged peacock butterfly, Drusilla catops; and the most brilliant and wonderful of the clear-winged moths, Cocytia durvillei, were especially interesting, as well, as several little "blues," equalling in brilliancy and beauty...1869, Alfred Russel Wallace, The Malay Archipelago, volume II, London: Macmillan and Co., page 199