phantom

/ˈfæn.təm/

/-t̬əm/

Definition

› like a ghost: A phantom coach is said to pass through the grounds of this house when there's a full moon.humorous The phantom wine-drinker has been around (= an unknown person has been drinking the wine)!Unreal things and unreality › describes something that you imagine exists or that appears to exist, although in fact it does not: Although she had to have her leg amputated, she still feels as though she's got a phantom limb. They discovered it was a phantom organization set up for the processing of drug profits.UK Although she grew bigger, she later discovered it was a phantom (US false) pregnancy.Unreal things and unreality

(Definition of phantom adjective from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

Browse related topics

You are looking at an entry to do with Unreal things and unreality, but you might be interested in these topics from the Right and wrong topic area: