phantom

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

But these phantom trends can prove frightening - especially because in rare cases, some of them do have real-life consequences.

From BBC • Mar. 9, 2026

The phantom fleet of sanctioned vessels now numbers 1,300 ships, according to TankerTrackers.com, a ship-tracking website.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 22, 2026

They concluded that the chatbots appropriately identified problematic prompts, like a feeling of being watched by phantom people or feeling personally persecuted by the government, as a developing delusion only about half the time.

From Slate • Feb. 2, 2026

If the 300 billion figure is more phantom than real, it would mean that Venezuelan oil won’t pose nearly as much competition long-term to its closest competitor: Canadian heavy oil.

From Barron's • Jan. 6, 2026

Suddenly, seven million children-—children who had existed only as phantom exemptions on the previous year’s 1040 forms—vanished, representing about one in ten of all dependent children in the United States.

From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt