wraith

American  

[reyth] / reɪθ /

noun

1. an apparition of a living person supposed to portend their death.

2. a visible spirit.

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wraith British  

/ reɪθ /

noun

1. the apparition of a person living or thought to be alive, supposed to appear around the time of his death

2. a ghost or any apparition

3. an insubstantial copy of something

4. something pale, thin, and lacking in substance, such as a column of smoke

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Other Word Forms

• wraithlike adjective

Etymology

Origin of wraith

First recorded in 1505–15; originally Scots; origin uncertain

Explanation

If you have a vision of your grandfather just before he passes away, you have seen a wraith or a ghostly image. Wraith can also mean something thin, wispy, or ghost-like. You could call a wisp of smoke rising from a chimney a wraith or you could say that a sick aunt had been reduced to a wraith — a thin, ghostly, figure. Sometimes it's even a compliment, which shows how we idealize wraith-like fashion models. Wraith is of unknown origins, and there aren't any other words related to it.

Example Sentences

The original Beetlejuice, which starred Michael Keaton as an obnoxious wraith hired to help scare away a house's pretentious inhabitants, was released back in 1988.

From BBC • Dec. 24, 2023

Tom Skerritt moves through “East of the Mountains” like a hobbled wraith.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 21, 2021

No such strategies can keep the Lyceum’s own pervasive Mina, the vengeful wraith of a murdered girl who haunts the theater, from infiltrating Bram’s thoughts.

From New York Times • Jun. 16, 2020

Next on the stand was a silicone wraith in a black parka and gloves, whose face alone was so frightening that one juror turned his chair away.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 12, 2019

But, if faith Is more than just a wraith And is in real good faith Then let us both have faith And hold me tight.

From "Feed" by M.T. Anderson