spook Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun someone unpleasantly strange or eccentric
    weirdy; weirdo; weirdie; creep.
  2. noun a mental representation of some haunting experience
    ghost; spectre; shade; specter; wraith.
    • he looked like he had seen a ghost
    • it aroused specters from his past
  3. verb frighten or scare, and often provoke into a violent action
    • The noise spooked the horse

WordNet

Spook noun
Etymology
D. spook; akin to G. spuk, Sw. spöke, Dan. spögelse a specter, spöge to play, sport, joke, spög a play, joke.
Definitions
  1. A spirit; a ghost; an apparition; a hobgoblin. Written also spuke. Ld. Lytton.
  2. (Zoöl.) The chimæra.

Webster 1913