fantasy
Americannoun
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fantasies
plural
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imagination, especially when extravagant and unrestrained.
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the forming of mental images, especially wondrous or strange ones; imaginative conceptualizing.
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a mental image, especially when unreal or fantastic; vision.
a nightmare fantasy.
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Psychology. an imagined or conjured up sequence fulfilling a psychological need; daydream.
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a hallucination.
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a supposition based on no solid foundation; visionary idea; illusion.
dreams of Utopias and similar fantasies.
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caprice; whim.
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an ingenious or fanciful thought, design, or invention.
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a genre of fiction involving magical, folkloric, or mythical elements.
I've been reading a lot of fantasy lately.
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Literature. Also an imaginative or fanciful work, especially one dealing with supernatural or unnatural events or characters.
The stories of Poe are fantasies of horror.
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Music. fantasia.
adjective
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noting or relating to a genre of fiction involving magical, folkloric, or mythical elements.
All his favorite fantasy novels are about elves.
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noting or relating to any of various games or leagues in which fans assemble players of a professional sport into imaginary teams, and points are scored based on the performance of these players in real games.
fantasy football;
fantasy sports.
verb (used with or without object)
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fantasies,
present (3rd person singular)
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fantasied,
past participle, past
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fantasying
present participle
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to form mental images; imagine; fantasize.
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Rare. to write or play fantasias.
noun
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imagination unrestricted by reality
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( as modifier )
a fantasy world
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a creation of the imagination, esp a weird or bizarre one
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psychol
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a series of pleasing mental images, usually serving to fulfil a need not gratified in reality
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the activity of forming such images
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a whimsical or far-fetched notion
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an illusion, hallucination, or phantom
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a highly elaborate imaginative design or creation
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music another word for fantasia fancy development
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literature having a large fantasy content
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a prose or dramatic composition of this type
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(modifier) of or relating to a competition, often in a newspaper, in which a participant selects players for an imaginary ideal team, and points are awarded according to the actual performances of the chosen players
fantasy football
verb
Synonym Usage
See fancy .
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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fantasysimple
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fantasiessimple
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have fantasiedperfect
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has fantasiedperfect
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am fantasyingprogressive
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are fantasyingprogressive
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is fantasyingprogressive
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have been fantasyingperfect progressive
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has been fantasyingperfect progressive
Past
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fantasiedsimple
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had fantasiedperfect
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was fantasyingprogressive
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were fantasyingprogressive
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had been fantasyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of fantasy
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English fantasie “imaginative faculty, mental image” (from Anglo-French, Old French ), from Latin phantasia, from Greek phantasía “an idea, notion, image,” literally, “a making visible, display”; see fantastic , -y 3
Explanation
A fantasy is something you imagine, which might involve dragons, unicorns, or an imaginary best friend. If you live in a fantasy world, you're not worrying much about reality — pleasant, maybe, but not very practical. Fantasy is dreams and imagination. In a football fantasy league, you can create your own dream team. In literature, fantasy — a genre similar to science fiction — might include a story about a three-headed squirrel and a bionic aardvark who fall in love on a planet made entirely of strawberries. Romance can be fantasy, too, according to a Billy Joel song: "It's just a fantasy. It's not the real thing. But sometimes a fantasy is all you need."
Vocabulary lists containing fantasy
Literary Genres - Introductory
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Reading: Literature - Literary Genres - Introductory
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Reading: Literature - Fiction - Introductory
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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.
See Examples For:
Holly: It has been a dismal summer for Newcastle United with key player departures and a managerial change, leaving Nick Woltemade as the main target for fantasy potential.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
As a new season draws near, football-hungry fans around the country will be tweaking their fantasy teams, making themselves experts on rumoured transfer targets and keeping eyes keenly trained on new kit releases.
From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026
He started creating maps, bringing to life imaginary worlds from his fantasy games.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 2026
The digital collage gives way to a more familiar cooking-show fantasy.
From Salon ● Aug. 5, 2026
I feel like I've stepped into a fantasy.
From "The Sky at Our Feet" by Nadia Hashimi
Like “Born in the U.S.A.” and “Rockin’ in the Free World,” “Pink Houses” was practically destined to be misinterpreted by elected salesmen peddling easy fantasies.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
The difference is that the Obamas appear to like each other and, especially in the early years of his presidency, had palpable chemistry that induced romantic fantasies.
From Salon ● Jul. 29, 2026
As La Cruz continues to break down barriers for the LGBTQ+ community in reggaeton, the rising Venezuelan star enjoys living out his gay fantasies in his music videos.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 25, 2026
“Like, if they’re experiencing an urge and are worried their fantasies are turning into plans, who can they call immediately?”
From Slate ● Jun. 15, 2026
The idea is so appealing that she briefly indulges in one of those fantasies that momentarily feels real.
From "A Heart in a Body in the World" by Deb Caletti
At first, real and fantasied crises led the "brothers and sisters" to make frantic telephone calls to the hospital therapists.
From Time Magazine Archive
So many prisoners were in the camps that it was widely fantasied among them that no free men were left outside.
From Time Magazine Archive
But as I travell'd hither through the land, I find the people strangely fantasied; Possess'd with rumours, full of idle dreams.
From King John by William Shakespeare
Meanwhile Mr. Dupont was conducting himself after his usual fantasied fashion.
From For the Major A Novelette by Constance Fenimore Woolson
Even now there is fantasying here and there about seizing the Libyan oilfields or parachuting forces into Saudi Arabia, but no one really believes it could happen.
From Time Magazine Archive
I love the romanticism of Williamsburg, but perhaps we can revive the rugged American Dream without fantasying it into a never-never land impossible of realization.
From Time Magazine Archive
Not much more to him than speaking with a will; than fantasying on the flute in an animated strain.
From History of Friedrich II of Prussia — Volume 10 by Thomas Carlyle
In passion—even in mere fire of the brain—one grasps not so much at the pen as at the string; and in that state alone does musical fantasying succeed better than poetic.
From Titan: A Romance v. 1 (of 2) by Jean Paul Friedrich Richter
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.
