spooks

Noun

spook (plural spooks)

1. (informal) A ghost or phantom.
   • The building was haunted by a couple of spooks.
2. (informal) A scare or fright.
   • The big spider gave me a spook.
3. (slang) An undercover agent, spy, or intelligence analyst.
   • From Ian Fleming to John Le Carre - authors have long been fascinated by the world of espionage. But, asks the BBC’s Gordon Corera, what do real life spooks make of fictional spies?2009 July 24, “Spies like them”, in BBC News Magazine
4. (dated, ethnic, offensive, slang, slur) A black person.
   • Some won't take spooks—hell, don't make no difference to me.1976, Paul Schrader, Taxi Driver, spoken by Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro)
5. A metaphysical manifestation; an artificial distinction or construct.
   • He who is infatuated with Man leaves persons out of account so far as that infatuation extends, and floats in an ideal, sacred interest. Man, you see, is not a person, but an ideal, a spook.1845, Max Stirner, translated by Steven T. Byington, Der Einzige und sein Eigentum; republished as The Ego and His Own, Dover, 2005
6. (US, slang) A psychiatrist.
   • Commonly, the surgeons view nonsurgeons with disdain. The most disdain is directed toward the “shrinks” or the “spooks,” as the psychiatrists are called.1975, Robert O. Pasnau, Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry, page 124

See all 10 meanings of spook