1
as in fairies
an imaginary being usually having a small human form and magical powers
the child insisted that he'd seen a sprite hiding in the garden
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
2
as in spirits
the soul of a dead person thought of especially as appearing to living people
told hair-raising stories of sprites and spectral ships
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of sprites
This livestream is well worth a watch, with active chat users often sharing timestamps of meteor sightings and occasionally rarer phenomena like atmospheric sprites!
—
Daisy Dobrijevic, Space.com, 21 Apr. 2026
On Friday, April 10, when those winged sprites took to the War Memorial Opera House stage for a seven-performance run, the whole tartan-and-gossamer fable felt more alive than ever.
—Rachel Howard, San Francisco Chronicle, 11 Apr. 2026
The video chip’s control registers, screen bitmaps, text-screen data, default and custom character sets, sprites, and color information all live in different locations scattered across memory, with some data actually living in separate RAM and ROM chips.
—Stephen Cass, IEEE Spectrum, 28 Sep. 2025
Daisy Dobrijevic, Space.com, 21 Apr. 2026
On Friday, April 10, when those winged sprites took to the War Memorial Opera House stage for a seven-performance run, the whole tartan-and-gossamer fable felt more alive than ever.
—Rachel Howard, San Francisco Chronicle, 11 Apr. 2026
The video chip’s control registers, screen bitmaps, text-screen data, default and custom character sets, sprites, and color information all live in different locations scattered across memory, with some data actually living in separate RAM and ROM chips.
—Stephen Cass, IEEE Spectrum, 28 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sprites
Noun
-
The original is set in an Australian rainforest populated by fairies, one of whom accidentally shrinks a logger to fairy size.—
Mike Fleming Jr,
Deadline,
17 Apr. 2026
-
Woodland fairies carrying giant daffodils or wearing hats covered in mushrooms.—
Jaclyn Cosgrove,
Los Angeles Times,
10 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
The yarns of Joe Turner interweave gradually, everyday chit-chat, bargaining, and flirtation interlocking over time with threads of mysticism — both the ghosts of a brutal history and the ancestral spirits that stand protective and defiant like a phalanx of angels with shining swords.—
Sara Holdren,
Vulture,
26 Apr. 2026
-
The voyage’s final night includes a spirits tasting under the Lyngen Alps at Aurora Spirit, the world’s northernmost distillery, and accommodation in its fjord-side cabins.—
Karen Gardiner,
Travel + Leisure,
25 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
The company behind that trio of elves, some of the most iconic mascots in pop culture, is the same corporation that put breakfast on the table in the first place.—
Heather Bushman,
USA Today,
15 Apr. 2026
-
The puckish figure draws heavily on Nordic fairy tales, including stories of elves.—
Jasmin Malik Chua,
Sourcing Journal,
24 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
There certainly seem to be apparitions in this music, some presence apart from the four musicians and the throngs of fans, which is intensified by the visceral collision of so many sounds.—
Stephen M. Deusner,
Pitchfork,
27 Apr. 2026
-
Those themes are alive here, as the ghosts who visit Depp’s Scrooge are intricate, terrifying apparitions not suitable for the whole family.—
Brent Lang,
Variety,
16 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Separate system prompt instructions for earlier models contained in the same JSON file do not contain the specific prohibition against mentioning goblins and other creatures, suggesting OpenAI is fighting a new problem that has popped up in its latest model release.—
Kyle Orland,
ArsTechnica,
29 Apr. 2026
-
This one just happens to involve wizards, goblins, and one savage, half-blind dragon.—
Séamas O'Reilly,
Vulture,
26 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
That doesn’t mean the ghosts here aren’t scary.—
Jon Dolan,
Rolling Stone,
22 Apr. 2026
-
Per the log line, in House of Stassi, Schroeder is stepping back into the spotlight to redefine her place in pop culture — but staying on top means confronting the ghosts of her past and a chaotic inner circle with a talent for disrupting her life.—
Katie Campione,
Deadline,
22 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Big money, uneven returns Steyer’s spending dwarfs every other candidate.—
Grace Hase,
Mercury News,
25 Apr. 2026
-
Look for taller varieties and avoid dwarfs.—
Kim Toscano,
Southern Living,
16 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
The Audacity creator Jonathan Glatzer and star Billy Magnussen, who plays wealthy tech CEO Duncan Park, took the stage at Deadline Contenders TV to talk about taking the tech monster lurking in the shadows and those responsible for its existence, and turning it into a comedy.—
Amanda Champagne-Meadows,
Deadline,
26 Apr. 2026
-
Three generations of Nicolsons have grown strawberries on this roughly 9-acre patch of land along Route 66, nestled in the shadows of Southern California’s San Gabriel Mountains and tucked between a gas station, a golf course and a Walmart.—
Jonathan Bullington,
Chicago Tribune,
26 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Sprites.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sprites. Accessed 1 May. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
