Definition of "specter"

specter

/ˈspɛktɚ/

noun
plural specters
1. A ghostly apparition, a phantom.
2. (figuratively) A threatening mental image.
  Quotations
  A specter is haunting Europe — the specter of communism. All the powers of old Europe have entered into a holy alliance to exorcise this specter: Pope and Tsar, Metternich and Guizot, French Radicals and German police-spies.
  1848, Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, translated by Samuel Moore, The Communist Manifesto
  Already, the specter of higher interest rates was causing the housing market to seize up.
  2022 September 27, Mark Landler, “Truss Takes a Bold Economic Gamble. Will It Sink Her Government?”, in The New York Times‎
3. (entomology) Any of certain species of dragonfly of the genus Boyeria, family Aeshnidae.