I am trying to develop a series of three words each of which a factor (and should be an actor-type noun) that produces certain kinds of effects. Here are the three ideas:
- Manifester: a factor that causes the effect to show up and be visible when it is actually there
- Hider: a factor that causes the effect to be invisible even though it is actually there
- Spurious: a factor that causes the effect to seem to misleadingly be there even though it actually is not there
I am fine with "manifester" and "hider" (though please feel free to suggest better words if you have any), but "spurious" does not work because it is an adjective, not a noun that represents an actor. Could you please recommend me a suitable actor-type noun that represents the idea that I call "spurious" here?
Although the factors I am referring to in my context are usually inanimate, I expect that the right word I am looking for might be suitable for a person who produces such an effect. The only thing I've thought of is "illusionist", but I don't quite like that, perhaps because it sounds a little too closely tied to a human function compared to the other two words. Alternatively, a series of three words that are all equally human (one of which would be "illusionist") might work in my context.
On a related note, is there a formal grammatical term for what I call "an actor-type noun"?