Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Of or resembling a specter; ghostly.
- adj. Of, relating to, or produced by a spectrum.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Of or pertaining to a specter; resembling or having the aspect of a specter; ghostlike: ghostly.
- Pertaining to ocular spectra, or pertaining to the solar, prismatic, or diffraction spectrum; exhibiting the hues of the prismatic spectrum; produced by the aid of the spectrum: as, spectral colors; spectral analysis.
- In zoology, like or likened to a specter or apparition; suggestive of a ghost in any way: as, the spectral bat; spectral shrimps; spectral insects.
Wiktionary
- adj. Having the appearance of a spectre; ghostly.
- adj. Of, or pertaining to, spectres.
- adj. Of, or pertaining to, spectra.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Of or pertaining to a specter; ghosty.
- adj. (Opt.) Of or pertaining to the spectrum; made by the spectrum
WordNet 3.0
- adj. resembling or characteristic of a phantom
- adj. of or relating to a spectrum
Examples
“These are the Phenomena, or visual Appearances, of this wide-working terrestrial world: which truly is all phenomenal, what they call spectral; and never rests at any moment; one never at any moment can know why.”
A Book of English Prose Part II, Arranged for Secondary and High Schools
“These are of the Phenomena, or visual Appearances, of this wide-working terrestrial world: which truly is all phenomenal, what they call spectral; and never rests at any moment; one never at any moment can know why.”
“Along with behind-the-scenes footage of professionals in darkened basements, there are conversations with soundtrack composers, animators and sound editors as well as "acousticians" who use software they describe as a "spectral de-noising tool".”
“In addition, excitation of blue and cyan fluorescent proteins is most efficient in spectral regions that are not commonly used, so specialized filter sets and laser sources are required.”
“Only out of a deep preference for the phantoms of the mind have we felt impelled to find mechanical techniques for remaking the world itself in spectral form (Castle 137).”
Smoke and Mirrors: Internalizing the Magic Lantern show in _Vilette_
“So the light kept going in spectral balance from dense light to split and back to dense light and split, in spectral cycles infinitely repeated.”
“In addition to the more or less complicated structure which owing to the peculiar internal nature of luminous bodies is found in spectral lines, it is also possible to split them under the influence of a magnetic force into several more or less closely packed components.”
“In 1932, Butenandt was able, from observations made in spectral analysis, and especially on the basis of the then established correct formula of cholesterol to draw up the formulae of the chemical structure of oestrone and oestriol.”
“His tastes were for what he called the "grim and grisly;" whilst Cathy demanded incessant tales of pink or blue ghosts, considering that if they were all arrayed in spectral white they would look both ghastly and monotonous.”
“In this column I'd like to discuss a concept I call spectral management, which refers to a process for allocating parts of the spectrum to different instruments and voices.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘spectral’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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SCIE - mathematics
The most frequent words in the titles of mathematical books and journals (www.sciencedirect.com)
nonparametric, nonparametric sta..., multivariate anal..., partial different..., multivariate, topology, stochastic, differential equa..., linear algebra, harmonic analysis, applied mathematics, combinatorial and 205 more...
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macabre
words associated with the macabre & horror.
( open list, randomness )
more:
http://www.wordnik.co...ghastly, grisly, culeus, silly, gruesome, horrid, morbid, angelic, shocking, hideous, ghoulish, frightful and 136 more...
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
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ghost
This is Ghost List 2 ( the kind that go 'boo!' ) :P
( open list )
more:
http://www.wordnik.com/lists/macabrephantom, spectral, specter, spectre, spooky, poltergeist, haunt, spirit, banshee, cryptic, shadow, phantasm and 311 more...
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Introverted
Quiet, shy, Introverted, reserved, isolated, mysterious
abashed, alienated, alone, anonymous, antisocial, ascetic, asocial, austere, autonomous, awkward, bashful, clannish and 91 more...
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RitaJKing's list
transparency
shimmer, fantastical, sansula, rapture, melancholy, obviated, parenthetically, apoplexy, indelible, pillory, demagogues, quark and 41 more...
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It's All Just Words.
quixotic, penisaurus rex, plibt, pot, polaroid, gemütlichkeit, hey! pooper scoop..., nowhere, anywhere, somewhere, elsewhere, wherever and 80 more...
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beyond pale
Words meaning or invoking the different aspects of pale.
Not just colour, but also the ideas of impermanence, illness, weakness. (Just not the two noun forms – a thin strip of metal or woo...pale, pallid, wan, light, misty, ethereal, cream, dim, white, thin, waning, colourless and 62 more...
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Colour & light
Beautiful words for the things we sense.
opaline, verdigris, opalescent, lustrous, nacreous, gloaming, lambent, lucent, darkling, glister, lapis, sapphire and 24 more...
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♥
ambrosia, inamorata, gossamer, lily-white, hummingbird, roucoulement, poppy, daisy, calypso, lunula, lamb, dove and 1526 more...
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yoshiyahu's Words
meme, disingenuous, antebellum, hypnagogic, philtrum, transference, prototypical, janissary, tuareg, shoal, caltrop, bannister and 89 more...
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the first list
an immense, grandiloquent list that loads like a thousand years sentence in stone. new words are in the other lists.
ridiculous, brummagem, predicament, sanctimonious, vapid, eschew, admonish, auspicious, capitulation, enumerate, lachrymose, tenet and 1648 more...
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diioxyde's Words
macabre, egypt, egyptology, queen, love, sex, sister, lover, web, cobweb, line, circle and 223 more...
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Just 'cause I like 'em, S
scrunch, solace, sabotage, saccade, sacerdotal, sacrilegious, sacristy, snappy, skew, steadfast, scowl, scorch and 781 more...
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eggplantia5's Words
scintillate, marvel, cranberry, oscillate, triumph, bamboozle, grimace, magical, book, hexagon, cipher, compendium and 2727 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for spectral.

bilby Full text of They That Dwell In Shadow. Sep 23, 2009
milosrdenstvi WordNet's definitions make me wonder -- what's the relation between a spectrum and a specter? Clearly, things that we see...
Also, awesome poem. Sep 23, 2009
bilby
They that dwell in shadow
Perpetually roam
In leagues of spectral meadow,
By phantom miles of foam.
Their lives are very weary,
And yet they cannot die,
Leave their sea-beaches dreary,
Or change that bitter sky.
- Howard Mumford Jones, 'They That Dwell In Shadow'. Sep 23, 2009