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fantastic

[fan-tas-tik]
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adjective

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RELATED WORDS

insane, imaginative, unbelievable, singular, incredible, ludicrous, grotesque, crazy, unreal, preposterous, outlandish, ridiculous, fanciful, absurd, implausible, weird, odd, exotic, tremendous, huge

Nearby words

  1. fantasist,
  2. fantasize,
  3. fantasm,
  4. fantasmagoria,
  5. fantast,
  6. fantastical,
  7. fantastically,
  8. fantasticate,
  9. fantastico,
  10. fantasy
Also fan·tas·ti·cal.

Origin of fantastic

1350–1400; Middle English fantastik pertaining to the imaginative faculty < Medieval Latin fantasticus, variant of Late Latin phantasticus < Greek phantastikós able to present or show (to the mind), equivalent to *phantad-, base of phantázein to make visible (akin to phānós light, bright, phaínein to make appear) + -tikos -tic
SYNONYMS FOR fantastic
1. Fantastic, bizarre, grotesque, weird share a sense of deviation from what is normal or expected. Fantastic suggests a wild lack of restraint, a fancifulness so extreme as to lose touch with reality: a fantastic scheme for a series of space cities. In informal use, fantastic often means simply “exceptionally good”: a fantastic meal. Bizarre means markedly unusual or extraordinarily strange, sometimes whimsically so: bizarre costumes for Mardi Gras; bizarre behavior. Grotesque implies shocking distortion or incongruity, sometimes ludicrous, more often pitiful or tragic: a grotesque mixture of human and animal features; grotesque contrast between the forced smile and sad eyes: a gnarled tree suggesting the figure of a grotesque human being. Weird refers to that which is mysterious and apparently outside natural law, hence supernatural or uncanny: the weird adventures of a group lost in the jungle; a weird and ghostly apparition. Informally, weird means “very strange”: weird and wacky costumes; weird sense of humor.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for fantastic

British Dictionary definitions for fantastic

fantastic

adjective Also: fantastical

strange, weird, or fanciful in appearance, conception, etc
created in the mind; illusory
extravagantly fanciful; unrealisticfantastic plans
incredible or preposterous; absurda fantastic verdict
informal very large or extreme; greata fantastic fortune; he suffered fantastic pain
informal very good; excellent
of, given to, or characterized by fantasy
not constant; capricious; fitfulgiven to fantastic moods

noun

archaic a person who dresses or behaves eccentrically
Derived Formsfantasticality or fantasticalness, noun

Word Origin for fantastic

C14 fantastik imaginary, via Late Latin from Greek phantastikos capable of imagining, from phantazein to make visible
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for fantastic

fantastic

adj.

late 14c., "existing only in imagination," from Middle French fantastique (14c.), from Medieval Latin fantasticus, from Late Latin phantasticus "imaginary," from Greek phantastikos "able to imagine," from phantazein "make visible" (middle voice phantazesthai "picture to oneself"); see phantasm. Trivial sense of "wonderful, marvelous" recorded by 1938.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper