spook en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (Australia) audio
- spo͞ok
- /spuːk/
- spo͝ok
- /spʊk/ (US, dialectal)
Etymology
Borrowed from Dutch spook (“ghost”), from Middle Dutch spooc (“spook, ghost”). Cognate with Middle Low German spôk, spûk (“apparition, ghost”), Middle High German gespük (“a haunting”), German Spuk, Danish spøge (“to haunt”), Swedish spöke (“ghost”).
Meanings
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(informal) A ghost or phantom.
The building was haunted by a couple of spooks.
"I'll say what I think, no more and no less, and I won't be scared by you or your spooks into altering my opinions."
1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019:
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(informal) A scare or fright.
The big spider gave me a spook.
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(slang) An undercover agent, spy, or intelligence analyst.
From Ian Fleming to John Le Carre - authors have long been fascinated by the world of espionage. But, asks the BBC’s Gordon Corera, what do real life spooks make of fictional spies?
2009 July 24, “Spies like them”, in BBC News Magazine:The hard right is on the march in Europe. The Alternative for Germany, a party declared extremist by domestic spooks, scored a record result in a national election in February.
2025 September 23, “Six books to read to understand Europe’s hard right”, in The Economist, →ISSN:The congressional study frets that Huawei’s and ZTE’s products could be used as Trojan horses by Chinese spooks.
2012 October 13, “Huawei and ZTE: Put on hold”, in The Economist:
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(dated, ethnic, offensive, slang, slur) A black person.
Some won't take spooks—hell, don't make no difference to me.
1976, Paul Schrader, Taxi Driver, spoken by Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro):"[…] Dryades Street and that whole uptown neighborhood is gonna be worth a fortune once the white people take it back from you spooks and develop it. […]"
2002 February, Don Spears, Playing for Keeps, Los Angeles: Milligan Books, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 179:
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A metaphysical manifestation; an artificial distinction or construct.
He who is infatuated with Man leaves persons out of account so far as that infatuation extends, and floats in an ideal, sacred interest. Man, you see, is not a person, but an ideal, a spook.
1845, Max Stirner, translated by Steven T. Byington, Der Einzige und sein Eigentum; republished as The Ego and His Own, Dover, 2005:
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(US, slang) A psychiatrist.
Commonly, the surgeons view nonsurgeons with disdain. The most disdain is directed toward the “shrinks” or the “spooks,” as the psychiatrists are called.
1975, Robert O. Pasnau, Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry, page 124:
- (slang) A player who engages in hole carding by attempting to glimpse the dealer's hole card when the dealer checks under an ace or a 10 to see if a blackjack is present.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| spooks | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Translations (45)
ny mzukwa (ghost or phantom) · fr fantôme (ghost or phantom) · mi taipō (ghost or phantom) · sv spöke (ghost or phantom) · nl nikker (pejorative: black person) · nl geest (ghost or phantom) · fr revenant (ghost or phantom) · ru при́зрак (ghost or phantom) · de Phantom (ghost or phantom) · fr barbouze (spy) · mi mangumangu taipō (ghost or phantom) · bg дух (ghost or phantom) · fr bamboula (pejorative: black person) · ru шпио́н (spy) · ro stafie (ghost or phantom) · bg при́зрак (ghost or phantom) · cmn 黑鬼 (pejorative: black person) · fi haamu (ghost or phantom) · nl spook (ghost or phantom) · ro spion (spy) · ro fantomă (ghost or phantom) · id hantu (ghost or phantom) · ka მოლანდება (ghost or phantom) · nl schijnsel (ghost or phantom) · de Gespenst (ghost or phantom) · ru ни́ггер (pejorative: black person) · ka შპიონი (spy) · nl spion (spy) · tr hayalet (ghost or phantom) · fi vakooja (spy) · fr espion (spy) · pdt Spuak (ghost or phantom) · de Spion (spy) · ka მსტოვარი (spy) · de Geist (ghost or phantom) · fi kummitus (ghost or phantom) · ka ჯაშუში (spy) · oc espion (spy) · ka მოჩვენება (ghost or phantom) · oc espia (spy) · nl verspieder (spy) · bem umulungulwa class 3 (ghost or phantom) · de Geheimagent (spy) · sv osalig ande (ghost or phantom) · fi aave (ghost or phantom)