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:
Nevertheless, notice what Cornell’s research implies for those who fantasize about being in the stock market on these best days: You need to be heavily invested during bear markets.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 14, 2026
If you fantasize about retiring abroad, stories of blissful expats will only stoke your desire.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 30, 2026
“If I did nothing but eat and lift for six months,” a football fan might fantasize, “I could be a walk-on at the next Jets training camp.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 29, 2026
I would often fantasize about lying on my deathbed with the love of my life, hand in hand, like Noah and Allie.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 30, 2025
For a minute Pearl allowed herself to fantasize.
From "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng
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
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
As she slouches around Hudson with her terrier, Piñon, Greta fantasizes about the people she can identify from the tapes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 2, 2023
She fantasizes that the next place she goes—because there’s always a next place, another foster home, a new school—she’ll start over with a new, easier-to-maintain look.
From "Orphan Train" by Christina Baker Kline
On the journey to the U.S., they fantasized about what classes would be offered at their new school.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 17, 2026
Duchamp’s seeming disinterest often revealed itself to be something far more venomous, as when he fantasized about a nihilistic readymade: “Use a Rembrandt as an ironing board.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
On Weibo, accounts linked to Xu have written that “Having more children can solve all problems” and fantasized about Xu’s children marrying Elon Musk’s children.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 14, 2025
I fantasized about eating an array of bubble plate-friendly foods: crudités, scoops of vanilla ice cream drizzled in olive oil and elaborate yogurt bowls topped with fancy granola, cut-up fruit and cacao nibs.
From Salon ● May 25, 2025
It wouldn’t be the paradise Julie had fantasized about, with sunlight and clean air.
From "The Dead and the Gone" by Susan Beth Pfeffer
While starving and battling lice, the young women distracted themselves by fantasizing about food.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 14, 2026
I didn’t want it to be this person who’s a complete introvert, nerd, not of this world, fantasizing about being this superhero.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 9, 2026
I spent a lot of time fantasizing about the brick-and-mortar bakery I’d open one day.
From Salon ● Apr. 3, 2025
But this wasn’t merely a spectacle of a man engaged in otherworldly fantasizing.
From Slate ● Feb. 4, 2025
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.
