fantasia

[fan-tey-zhuh, -zhee-uh, fan-tuh-zee-uh]

noun

1. Music.

   1. a composition in fanciful or irregular form or style.

   2. a potpourri of well-known airs arranged with interludes and florid embellishments.

2. fantasy.

3. something considered to be unreal, weird, exotic, or grotesque.

fantasia

/ ˌfæntəˈzɪə, fænˈteɪzɪə /

noun

1. any musical composition of a free or improvisatory nature

2. a potpourri of popular tunes woven freely into a loosely bound composition

3. another word for fancy

Word History and Origins

Origin of fantasia¹

From Italian, dating back to 1715–25; fantasy

Word History and Origins

Origin of fantasia¹

C18: from Italian: fancy; see _fantasy

Example Sentences

In the second half, an early 20th century oddball fantasia for four violas by British composer/violist York Bowen was preceded a gripping performance of the First Sextet.

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Shot on film by cinematographer Alex Ashe to achieve a warm, grainy period look, the movie takes its two-people-talking premise as the unlikely springboard for a subtly rendered visual fantasia.

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The putrid chamber drama becomes a fantasia, befouled rags turn into tuxedo pants and it’s finally safe to belt how they feel.

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The germ of an edgy fantasia about an isolated pop icon’s ego death is swimming somewhere in the DNA of “Hurry Up Tomorrow,” but it’s been flattened into a superficial, tear-stained pity party.

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One chapter looks at a literary example, William Wells Brown’s novel "Clotel," which is something of a fantasia on the Sally Hemings story.

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