( BrE ) ( US spec·ter ) / ˈspektə(r); NAmE / noun
1.
spectre (of sth) something unpleasant that people are afraid might happen in the future :
The country is haunted by the spectre of civil war.
These weeks of drought have once again raised the spectre of widespread famine.
2.
( literary ) a ghost :
Was he a spectre returning to haunt her?
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WORD ORIGIN
early 17th cent.: from French spectre or Latin spectrum image, apparition , from specere to look.