wraith

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wraith / rā[unvoicedth]/ • n. a ghost or ghostlike image of someone, esp. one seen shortly before or after their death. ∎  used in similes and metaphors to describe a pale, thin, or insubstantial person or thing: heart attacks had reduced his mother to a wraith. ∎ poetic/lit. a wisp or faint trace of something: a sea breeze was sending a gray wraith of smoke up the slopes.DERIVATIVES: wraith·like / -ˌlīk/ adj.

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