wraith

noun

ˈrāth 

plural wraiths ˈrāths 

also

ˈrāt͟hz 

1

a

: the exact likeness of a living person seen usually just before death as an apparition

b

: ghost, specter

2

: an insubstantial form or semblance : shadow

3

: a barely visible gaseous or vaporous column

wraithlike

ˈrāth-ˌlīk 

adjective

Did you know?

If you see your own double, you're in trouble, at least if you believe old superstitions. The belief that a ghostly twin's appearance portends death is one common to many cultures. In German folklore, such an apparition is called a Doppelgänger (literally, "double goer"); in Scottish lore, they are wraiths. The exact origin of the word wraith is misty, however, and etymologists can only trace it back to the early 16th century—in particular to a 1513 translation of Virgil's Aeneid by Gavin Douglas (the Scotsman used wraith to name apparitions of both the dead and the living). In current English, wraith has taken on additional, less spooky, meanings; it now often suggests a shadowy—but not necessarily scary—lack of substance.

Synonyms

• apparition
• bogey
• bogie
• bogy
• familiar spirit
• ghost
• hant [dialect]
• haunt [chiefly dialect]
• materialization
• phantasm
• fantasm
• phantom
• poltergeist
• shade
• shadow
• specter
• spectre
• spirit
• spook
• sprite
• vision
• visitant

Examples of wraith in a Sentence

the people who once lived here believed that their world was populated by wraiths and witches

Recent Examples on the Web

Many slide hopelessly back into lives as nearly invisible wraiths, measured in the intervals between fixes — and arrests. —Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board, Orlando Sentinel, 16 Dec. 2024

Discovery, two of the bigger owners of these cable-network wraiths, haven’t had much to show for keeping them up and running. —Brian Steinberg, Variety, 31 Oct. 2024

Human puppets swayed over a Pont like wraiths of those who had been staked there. 🎾 Follow Sports Dashing through it all was the torchbearer, his identity unknown. —Sally Jenkins, Washington Post, 27 July 2024

And the second revealed the full menagerie of creatures that will appear in Season 2, including wraiths, wolves, ents and a giant cave troll. —Jordan Moreau, Variety, 26 July 2024

Word History

Etymology

origin unknown

First Known Use

1513, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

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Kids Definition

wraith

noun

ˈrāth 

1

: ghost

2

: a bodiless appearance : shadow