noun

apparition

ap-uh-RISH-un/ˌæpəˈrɪʃn/

A ghostly or mysterious figure that appears unexpectedly.

A faint, translucent apparition appears in the old hallway.

A faint translucent human silhouette in an old hallway, atmospheric imagined ghost.

Etymology

apLatintoward

+pariLatincome forth, be visible

+tionLatinaction or result

The underlying image is something coming into view. Apparition specialized in supernatural manifestations and ghosts, retaining the suggestion that what appears is unexpected or startling.

In context

Libranima89:58

then a third person, that beautiful and graceful figure, la Esmeralda. The priest beheld her rise from below like a dazzling apparition. Claude trembled, a cloud spread over his eyes

The Hunchback of Notre-Dame - Hugo (Illustrated Audiobook) Part 2 of 2

More examples

The witness described a silent apparition in the hallway.
The novel's apparitions vanish before anyone can approach them.
She mistook the reflected figure for an apparition.

Forms

apparition · apparitions

Similar words

ghost: Usually specifically the spirit of a dead person.
vision: Can be a mental image rather than an apparently external figure.