Word of the Day: apparition
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: UK /ˌæp.əɹˈɪʃn̩/ · US /ˌæp.ɚˈɪ.ʃən/
Simple meaning: a ghostly figure or an unexpected supernatural appearance.
Listen to the pronunciation
What Does Apparition Mean?
An apparition is something that suddenly becomes visible, especially a figure that looks like a ghost. In everyday writing, the word usually suggests that the appearance is strange, brief, or difficult to explain. A character may see an apparition at the end of a dark corridor, but the same word can also describe an unexpected vision that is not clearly a ghost.
The noun came into English through French and ultimately from a Latin word connected with appearing. That history helps explain the core idea: an apparition is first of all an appearance. The supernatural meaning became especially common in stories about haunted places.
Examples
- The pale apparition vanished when the library door opened.
- At midnight, an apparition seemed to cross the empty hall.
- The children were less frightened by the apparition than the ghost expected.
Use It While You Listen
Listen for this idea in The Canterville Ghost. Oscar Wilde plays with the usual image of a frightening ghost. The Otis family sees supernatural events, but responds with practical advice and comic confidence. This makes the story useful for learning words about ghosts, old houses, fear, and appearance.
Related words: ghost, phantom, specter, vision, appearance.
Swedish: spökbild or andesyn · German: Erscheinung or Gespenst · French: apparition.
Sources and Audio Credit
The definition, pronunciation forms, and word history were checked against Wiktionary. This page uses new BookAud wording and examples. Pronunciation audio was recorded by Vealhurl for Lingua Libre and is available from Wikimedia Commons under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. The audio is unmodified.