fantasize
Americanverb (used without object)
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fantasizes,
present (3rd person singular)
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fantasized,
past participle, past
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fantasizing
present participle
verb (used with object)
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fantasizes,
present (3rd person singular)
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fantasized,
past participle, past
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fantasizing
present participle
verb
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to conceive extravagant or whimsical ideas, images, etc
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(intr) to conceive pleasant or satisfying mental images
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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fantasizesimple
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fantasizessimple
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have fantasizedperfect
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has fantasizedperfect
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am fantasizingprogressive
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are fantasizingprogressive
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is fantasizingprogressive
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have been fantasizingperfect progressive
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has been fantasizingperfect progressive
Past
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fantasizedsimple
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had fantasizedperfect
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was fantasizingprogressive
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were fantasizingprogressive
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had been fantasizingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of fantasize
Explanation
To fantasize is to imagine things that are not true and sometimes not possible. We fantasize about things we wish were real. Have you ever daydreamed that you're a king, or a superstar in the NBA, or able to fly? Then you've been fantasizing. Fantasizing is something everyone does, though we all have different fantasies. You can fantasize about things that are possible or impossible, including being the President, riding a unicorn, or being the President of unicorns. You can fantasize about anything you can imagine.
Vocabulary lists containing fantasize
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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:
Generally, while calls to invoke judicial dissolution don’t result in much action, it’s still fun to fantasize about which corporations should face execution.
From Salon ● Aug. 19, 2026
If you fantasize about retiring abroad, stories of blissful expats will only stoke your desire.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 30, 2026
Yes, one can fantasize about the end result of a good haul, i.e. crab cakes, crab cocktail and/or Crab Louie.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 7, 2026
Exploring these accounts, I found that many lead back to Choudhury, keen to speculate and fantasize about which species might be in “The End of Oak Street.”
From Salon ● Apr. 12, 2026
Isn't it funny the way you fantasize about junk food when you're a kid?
From "Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda" by Becky Albertalli
Walter Mitty is a term sometimes used to describe a person who fantasizes about a life more interesting and exciting than their own.
From BBC ● Jan. 21, 2026
Latta fantasizes about one day being in hospitality.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 7, 2023
He fantasizes about a James Hong comic book series with his brand of sarcastic humor.
From Seattle Times ● May 25, 2023
On the last day of work for Bringley, who a decade later is still a young man, Joseph fantasizes about his own future in their shared language of art.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 9, 2023
Isaac fantasizes about opening a brewery-cum-performance-space, traveling through South America, or operating a sunset massage cruise in the Caribbean.
From "Class Matters" by The New York Times
I immediately fantasized about changing my no-dog policy to “second dogs are OK—at $500 a month.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 25, 2026
Ever since, Bamberger had fantasized about doing the same.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 4, 2026
We don’t have to wonder how much real-world atrocity we’re willing to absorb due to our shifted relationship with these highly personal fantasized versions.
From Salon ● Oct. 29, 2025
Director Guillermo del Toro fantasized about making a version of Mary Shelley’s classic for decades.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2025
He filled his stomach three times a day with the roasted meat that he and Park had fantasized about in Camp 14.
From "Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West" by Blaine Harden
Sure, many other countries go to war with similar motives, fantasizing the conflicts are about freedom or religion or whatever.
From Salon ● Jul. 4, 2026
While starving and battling lice, the young women distracted themselves by fantasizing about food.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 14, 2026
But this wasn’t merely a spectacle of a man engaged in otherworldly fantasizing.
From Slate ● Feb. 4, 2025
Now, Robert Eggers, who gained auteur status with his 2015 colonial horror film “The Witch,” delivers a direct remake of Murnau’s film, apparently a project he’s been fantasizing about for decades.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 24, 2024
I have to admit I like to imagine you as a kid fantasizing about junk food.
From "Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda" by Becky Albertalli
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.
