Meanings
phantom1
plural phantoms · alternative archaic fantom
- countableuncountableA ghost or apparition.
- countableuncountablebridgeA placeholder for a pair of players when there are an odd number of pairs playing.
- abbreviationcolloquialuncountableShort for phantom power
alternative archaic fantom
- not comparableIllusive.
[…] (it was the town's humour to be always gassing of phantom investors who were likely to come any moment and pay a thousand prices for everything) — “[…] Them rich fellers, they don't make no bad breaks with their money. […]”
1899, Stephen Crane, chapter 1, in Twelve O'Clock
Phantom2
plural Phantoms
- A Rolls-Royce Phantom automobile.
Paul pulled out the Phantom; niggas can't stand it but them hoes gonna come out.
2005, “Stay Fly”, in Jordan Houston, Darnell Carlton, Paul Beauregard, Premro Smith, Marlon Goodwin, David Brown, Willie Hutchinson (lyrics), Most Known Unknown, performed by Three 6 Mafia (featuring Young Buck, 8 Ball, and MJG), Sony BMG
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectivesomething apparently sensed but having no physical reality
nouna ghostly appearing figure
nounsomething existing in perception only
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*bʰeh₂-
- Proto-Indo-European*bʰh₂nyéti
- Proto-Hellenic*pʰáňňō
- Ancient Greekφαίνω (phaínō)
- Ancient Greekφᾰντᾰ́ζω (phăntắzō)
- Ancient Greekφάντασμα (phántasma)
- Latinphantasma
- Old Frenchfantosme
- Middle Englishfantome
- Englishphantom
Inherited from Middle English fantome, fanteme, from Old French fantosme, fantasme, from Latin phantasma (“an apparition, specter; (in Late Latin also) appearance, image”), from Ancient Greek φάντασμα (phántasma, “phantasm, an appearance, image, apparition, specter”), from φαντάζω (phantázō, “to make visible”). Doublet of phantasm.
More words from Middle English, Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek φάντασμα, φάσμα
- φάντασμα (phántasma)something having no physical reality
- φάσμα (phásma)something having no physical reality
Arabic سَرَاب, شَبَح
- سَرَاب (sarāb)something having no physical reality
- شَبَح (šabaḥ)something having no physical reality
- شَبْح (šabḥ)something having no physical reality
Bulgarian привиде́ние, при́зрак
- привиде́ние (prividénie)something having no physical reality
- при́зрак (prízrak)something having no physical reality
- фанто́м (fantóm)something having no physical reality
- илюзорен (iljuzoren)unreal or fictitious
Catalan fantasma
- fantasmasomething having no physical reality
Chinese Mandarin 幻影
- 幻影 (huànyǐng)something having no physical reality
Czech přízrak
- přízraksomething having no physical reality
Danish fantom
- fantomsomething having no physical reality
Dutch fantoom
- fantoomsomething having no physical reality
Esperanto fantomo
- fantomosomething having no physical reality
Finnish aave
- aavesomething having no physical reality
French fantôme
- fantômesomething having no physical reality
German Phantom
- Phantomsomething having no physical reality
Greek Φαντομάς
- Φαντομάς (Fantomás)something having no physical reality
Hindi प्रेत
- प्रेत (pret)something having no physical reality
Irish amhailt
- amhailtsomething having no physical reality
Italian fantasma, spettro
- fantasmasomething having no physical reality
- spettrosomething having no physical reality
- immaginariounreal or fictitious
- immaginariaunreal or fictitious
- irrealeunreal or fictitious
Japanese 幻, 幻影
- 幻 (maboroshi)something having no physical reality
- 幻影 (gen'ei)something having no physical reality
Korean 환영
- 환영 (hwanyeong)something having no physical reality
Māori mariko, pō-mariko
- marikosomething having no physical reality
- pō-marikosomething having no physical reality
- pō-mārikorikosomething having no physical reality
- marikounreal or fictitious
Norwegian Bokmål fantom
- fantomsomething having no physical reality
Polish fantom
- fantomsomething having no physical reality
Portuguese fantasma, fantoma
- fantasmasomething having no physical reality
- fantomatest object
Romanian fantomă
- fantomăsomething having no physical reality
Russian при́зрак, тень
- при́зрак (prízrak)something having no physical reality
- тень (tenʹ)something having no physical reality
- фанто́м (fantóm)something having no physical reality
- привиде́ние (prividénije)something having no physical reality
- нереальный (nerealʹnyj)unreal or fictitious
- иллюзорный (illjuzornyj)unreal or fictitious
- фантомный (fantomnyj)unreal or fictitious
Slovak prízrak
- prízraksomething having no physical reality
Spanish fantasma
- fantasmasomething having no physical reality
Swedish fantom
- fantomsomething having no physical reality
Tagalog bibit
- bibitsomething having no physical reality
Ukrainian прима́ра, фанто́м
- прима́ра (prymára)something having no physical reality
- фанто́м (fantóm)something having no physical reality
- при́вид (prývyd)something having no physical reality
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with phantom
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
phantom. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/phantom
“phantom.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/phantom. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “phantom,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/phantom.
Source: phantom on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.