adjective
-
wildly fanciful; imaginary
-
given to or indulging in fantasies
Other Word Forms
- chimerically adverb
- chimericalness noun
- nonchimeric adjective
- nonchimerical adjective
- nonchimerically adverb
Etymology
Origin of chimerical
Explanation
Use the adjective chimerical to describe something that is wildly fanciful or imaginative — like the chimerical illustrations of magical creatures in a children's book. A chimera was a fire-breathing monster from Greek mythology made from three different animals: a lion at its head, a goat in the middle, and a serpent at the end. The first surviving mention of the beast is in Homer's The Iliad. From this fantastical creature, English created the adjective chimerical to describe wild figments of the imagination.
Vocabulary lists containing chimerical
Frankenstein
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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.
Projections of economic gains from major sporting events are typically optimistic, euphoric, chimerical or conjectural.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 19, 2025
Which is to say, this was a precious, anticipated, frankly anxious affair — the materialization of a beloved and mercurial performer moving from the chimerical to the literal.
From New York Times • Apr. 26, 2023
Why are so many chimerical Shangri-Las fraught with conflict?
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 9, 2023
He knows, too, that World Cup draws are not just bombastic and saccharine and filled with time-wasting and content-filling and Idris Elba; they are chimerical, too.
From New York Times • Apr. 1, 2022
Uto'pian, ideal, fanciful, chimerical: from "Utopia"—an imaginary island, represented by Sir Thomas More, in a work called "Utopia," as enjoying the greatest perfection in politics laws, and society.
From New Word-Analysis by William Swinton
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
