spökbil

Swedish

Etymology

Compound of spök(e) (ghost) +‎ bil (car).

Noun

spökbil c

  1. (colloquial) a car driven without its headlights turned on
    • 2025 November 18, Ellen Norberg, “Spökbilar” och omedvetna förare bötfällda ["Ghost cars" and unaware drivers penalised]”, in Göteborgs-Posten:
      De största farorna med spökbilar är dels att andra bilar riskerar att köra in i dem bakifrån, men också att förare som inte har rätt belysning riskerar att inte se fotgängare och djur, vilket ökar olycksrisken.
      The greatest dangers posed by ghost cars are partly that other cars risk colliding with them from behind, but also that drivers without proper lighting risk failing to see pedestrians and animals, which increases the risk of accidents.
  2. (video games) a ghost car; a non-interactable opponent car in a racing game that follows a previously recorded route
    • 2020 April 15, “Jakten på spökbilen [The search for the ghost car]”, in P3 Tech, Sveriges Radio:
      I RalliSport Challenge hittade nämligen en gamer med nicket 00WARTHERAPY00 en spökbil, den sista kvarlevan av hans döde far.
      In RalliSport Challenge, a gamer with the nick 00WARTHERAPY00 discovered a ghost car, the last remaining trace of his deceased father.

Declension

Declension of spökbil
nominative genitive
singular indefinite spökbil spökbils
definite spökbilen spökbilens
plural indefinite spökbilar spökbilars
definite spökbilarna spökbilarnas