fanciful

[fan-si-fuhl]

adjective

1. characterized by or showing fancy; capricious or whimsical in appearance.

   a fanciful design of butterflies and flowers.

2. suggested by fancy; imaginary; unreal.

   fanciful lands of romance.

   Synonyms: illusory, baseless, visionary

3. led by fancy rather than by reason and experience; whimsical.

   a fanciful mind.

fanciful

/ ˈfænsɪfʊl /

adjective

1. not based on fact; dubious or imaginary

   fanciful notions

2. made or designed in a curious, intricate, or imaginative way

3. indulging in or influenced by fancy; whimsical

Other Word Forms

• fancifully adverb
• fancifulness noun
• overfanciful adjective
• overfancifully adverb
• overfancifulness noun
• unfanciful adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of fanciful¹

First recorded in 1620–30; fancy + -ful

Example Sentences

“He then used those records to concoct fanciful allegations of mortgage fraud, which he referred to the Department of Justice for prosecution.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Her work for the front, Main Street areas of the park is shown, and it’s Victorian, regal and just ever-so-slightly fanciful.

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This tariff-dividend ploy suffers from fanciful math, shoddy economics and — not least — considerable legal obstacles.

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Shah told me the notion of a coup was "fanciful".

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“The idea behind Storybook is to have something fanciful and whimsical, which involves movement rather than rectilinear rooms,” Libow said.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• absurd 
• bizarre 
• extravagant 
• fantastic 
• fantastical www.thesaurus.com
• fictional 
• imaginative 
• offbeat 
• preposterous 
• unreal 
• whimsical