phantom energy

noun

The energy that is lost due to standby electronic activity of equipment that is "off", on standby or sleep mode.

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Meanings

phantom energy1

nounphantom energy (uncountable)
  1. uncountableenergy efficiencyThe energy that is lost due to standby electronic activity of equipment that is "off", on standby or sleep mode.

phantom energy2

nounphantom energy (uncountable)
  1. uncountableastronomyA category of dark energy, where dark energy is not fixed in amount nor in density, and continuously increases over time.

Origin

phantom energy · noun

From phantom + energy.

Full word history & related roots →

phantom energy · noun

Coined by physicist Robert R. Caldwell in 1998, in reference to the Star Wars movie The Phantom Menace, in his paper "A Phantom Menace? Cosmological consequences of a dark energy component with super-negative equation of state" referring to the "phantom energy menace" that would lead to the Big Rip.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

phantom energy. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/phantom%20energy

MLA

“phantom energy.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/phantom%20energy. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “phantom energy,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/phantom%20energy.

Source: phantom energy on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.