Synonyms for spook

Most common

ghost · spy · spectre UK · wraith · creep · weirdo

Synonyms by meaning

Noun

Verb

Definitions

1. n. 1

   A ghost or phantom.

   The building was haunted by a couple of spooks.

2. n. 2

   A scare or fright.

   The big spider gave me a spook.

3. v. 1

   To frighten or make nervous (especially by startling).

   The hunters were spooked when the black cat crossed their path. The movement in the bushes spooked the deer and they ran.

Related words

Word family

spookfish spookiness spookish spooktacular spooky

Forms

Plural

spooks → ghosts, spectres, wraiths, phantoms…

Past participle

spooked
e.g. spooked → frightened, affrighted…

Example sentences

• ghost Have Tom and Mary ever told you any ghost stories?
• spy I spy with my little eye something beginning with…
• spectre A spectre haunts Europe: the spectre of communism.
• creep You scared me! Don't creep up on people like that.
• weirdo Don't tell me you believe this weirdo over me.

Popularity over time

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

3 letters

spy¹

5 letters

ghost¹, shade¹, creep¹

6 letters

spirit², nigger², weirdo², wraith, weirdy

7 letters

phantom², spectre², specter², weirdie

8 letters

frighten², phantasm³, affright

10 letters

apparition⁴

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (spirit² = 2 syllables).

In other languages

Français

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