adjective
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wildly fanciful; imaginary
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given to or indulging in fantasies
Other Word Forms
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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100 SAT words Beginning with "C"
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"Simon's Saga," Vocabulary from Episode 7
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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.
First and foremost, many businesses that went all-in on AI have discovered that the vaunted cost-savings its promoters promised have been chimerical at best.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 23, 2026
Ms. Mori’s creations look like chimerical species — hybrids of barnacles and cumulus clouds, a baobab and a weeping willow, a waterlily and fiddlehead ferns, sea urchin spines and a swarm of starlings.
From New York Times ● Mar. 2, 2023
Two instances in recent culture capture the uncertainty of our present moment, forcing us to reconsider the locus of the chimerical enemy.
From New York Times ● Feb. 16, 2023
Why are so many chimerical Shangri-Las fraught with conflict?
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 9, 2023
But the AEC’s dream of thermonuclear research blooming via a collegial relationship between Los Alamos and Livermore proved chimerical.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
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.
