phantasm

/ˈfæntæzəm/
noun
  1. A ghost or spirit; an apparition.
    • In the old tale, a phantasm appeared to the knight in the haunted castle.
    • The movie was full of eerie phantasms that frightened the audience.
    • She thought she saw a phantasm in the fog, but it was just a tree branch.
  2. Something that exists only in the imagination; an illusion or fantasy.
    • She realized her perfect memory of the vacation was a phantasm, not the real event.
    • His dream of becoming a rock star turned out to be a phantasm.
    • The promise of easy money was just a phantasm that led them into debt.
Antonyms