chimera

American  

[kahy-meer-uh] / kaɪˈmɪər ə /

Or chimaera

noun

• chimeras
  plural

1. Greek Mythology. Often Chimera a fire-breathing monster, commonly represented with a lion's head, a goat's body, and a serpent's tail.

2. any grotesque monster having disparate parts, as depicted or described in art, legend, fantasy fiction, video games, etc.

3. a strange, horrible, or impossible idea or figment of the imagination.

   He is far different from the chimera your fears have made of him.

   Without equality, unity is a chimera.

   Synonyms:

   delusion, fantasy, dream

4. anything created by taking parts or aspects of different kinds of things and combining them.

   We are like an audio-art chimera, in that we act as part literary journal, part music showcase, and part storytelling podcast.

5. Genetics. an organism composed of two or more genetically distinct tissues, such as one produced artificially by combining cells or tissues from different species.

   Chimeras were generated by splicing West Nile and Zika viruses into the genetic backbone of two different insect-specific viruses.

---

adjective

1. being or relating to a chimera or chimeras.

   The chimera embryos used in this research are sheep embryos containing human cells.

chimera British  

/ kaɪˈmɪərə, kɪ- /

noun

1. (often capital) Greek myth a fire-breathing monster with the head of a lion, body of a goat, and tail of a serpent

2. a fabulous beast made up of parts taken from various animals

3. a wild and unrealistic dream or notion

4. biology an organism, esp a cultivated plant, consisting of at least two genetically different kinds of tissue as a result of mutation, grafting, etc

---

chimera Cultural  

1. A monster in classical mythology who had the head of a lion, the body of a goat, and the tail of a dragon or serpent.

---

Discover More

Figuratively, a “chimera” is a creation of the imagination, especially a wild creation.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• chimaerism
  noun
• chimerism
  noun
• chimaeric
  adjective
• chimeric
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• chimeras
  plural

---

Etymology

Origin of chimera

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English chimera, from Latin chimaera, from Greek chímaira “she-goat,” from chímaros “he-goat,” perhaps originally “animal one winter old”; akin to Old Norse gymbr, English gimmer “ewe-lamb one year (i.e., one winter) old,” Latin hiems “winter” ( see hiemal), Greek cheîma “winter cold” ( see isocheim)

---

Explanation

A chimera is something you’ve imagined that’s bits and pieces of other things mashed together into a new horrible fantasy, something impossible in real life that only exists in your mind. In Greek mythology, a chimera is a monster that has a lion’s head, a goat’s body, and a serpent’s tail. And it breathes fire. No creature like that has ever existed, but the idea seemed real and terrifying to Greeks, and that’s another meaning: an idea that feels real but is impossible, like the idea of a world without evil. Pronouncing the word is very possible though; just try it one of two ways: either kye-MEER-uh or kih-MEER-uh. Both work.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

chimera chimeras

They mixed cells that had been developing for a year together with others that were only two weeks old, creating a "chimera".

From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026

Metcalfe’s pursuit of revelation in a single lost poem is magical thinking, a relentless grasping for a chimera.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2025

Also known as a spookfish or chimera, ghost sharks are closely related to sharks and rays.

From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2024

Freud, who catalyzed the study of dreams with his foundational 1899 treatise, would have discounted this as a mere chimera of the wishful unconscious.

From New York Times ● Mar. 26, 2024

“We used the spring snare to snag that chimera last month. I don’t really like repeating ourselves. Makes us look less innovative than—” He stopped himself.

From "The Last Last-Day-of-Summer" by Lamar Giles

The two most advanced types of protein degraders are known as Protacs, or proteolysis targeting chimeras, and molecular glue.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026

The Nature Nanotechnology perspective, "Nanoparticle-mediated targeting chimeras transform targeted protein degradation," explores how this technology works and where it could be applied.

From Science Daily ● Jan. 28, 2026

These include naive cells, which act like cells from a preimplantation embryo and are more readily incorporated, and primed pluripotent stem cells, which act like postimplantation cells and can’t be incorporated into chimeras at all.

From Scientific American ● Nov. 10, 2023

Then there are the men who pursue more fanciful chimeras, the imagi-makers whose visions helped to give L.A. its reputation as a place where quirky notions can find fertile purchase.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2023

During the intervening period I had no time to nurse chimeras; and I believe I was as active and gay as anybody—Adèle excepted.

From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---