fantasy

[ fan-tuh-see, -zee ]

/ ˈfæn tə si, -zi /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR fantasy ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural fan·ta·sies.

imagination, especially when extravagant and unrestrained.

the forming of mental images, especially wondrous or strange fancies; imaginative conceptualizing.

a mental image, especially when unreal or fantastic; vision: a nightmare fantasy.

Psychology. an imagined or conjured up sequence fulfilling a psychological need; daydream.

a hallucination.

a supposition based on no solid foundation; visionary idea; illusion: dreams of Utopias and similar fantasies.

caprice; whim.

an ingenious or fanciful thought, design, or invention.

Also fantasia. Literature. an imaginative or fanciful work, especially one dealing with supernatural or unnatural events or characters: The stories of Poe are fantasies of horror.

Music. fantasia(def 1).

adjective

noting or relating to any of various games or leagues in which fans assemble players of a professional sport into imaginary teams, and points are scored based on the performance of these players in real games: fantasy football; fantasy sports.

verb (used with or without object), fan·ta·sied, fan·ta·sy·ing.

to form mental images; imagine; fantasize.

Rare. to write or play fantasias.

Nearby words

fantast, fantastic, fantastically, fantasticate, fantastico, fantasy, fantasyland, fanti, fantin-latour, fantoccini, fantod

Sometimes phan·ta·sy.

Origin of fantasy

1275–1325; Middle English fantasie imaginative faculty, mental image (< Anglo-French, Old French) < Latin phantasia < Greek phantasía an idea, notion, image, literally, a making visible; see fantastic, -y³

SYNONYMS FOR fantasy

1 See fancy.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR fantasy ON THESAURUS.COM

Related forms

non·fan·ta·sy, noun, plural non·fan·ta·sies.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for fantasy

But if Democrats are faced with the reality of a glut of qualified candidates, Republicans are assembling more of a fantasy team.
The Golden State Preps for the ‘Red Wedding’ of Senate Races|David Freedlander|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
That fantasy, however, is still heavily regimented by all sorts of norms.
‘Empire’ Review: Hip-Hop Musical Chairs with an Insane Soap Opera Twist|Judnick Mayard|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Still, sci-fi and fantasy that is actually motivated by the issues surrounding women is a rarity.
Science-Fiction TV Finds a New Muse: Feminism|David Levesley|November 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Read too strictly, this would exclude highly inventive works of science fiction and fantasy because they lack realism.
The Birth of the Novel|Nick Romeo|November 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST

My fantasy unravels when she opens the robe, revealing a sling around her broken arm.
The Singular Artist of New Yorkistan|Lizzie Crocker|November 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST
We indulge them in all their caprices, until we are enabled to decide with certainty, on the fantasy the brain has conjured up.
A Love Story|A Bushman
This time he was weaving no fantasy round a whiff of violets.
The Late Tenant|Louis Tracy
In a flash Clarence had wrought a feasible plan out of Jim's fantasy.
Susy, A Story of the Plains|Bret Harte
Of course, it sounded like a fantasy, and if I had been in Goil's place, I would have thought it so.
Jack of No Trades|Charles Cottrell
Suppose it should be, after all, a fantasy of his fever that pictured so vividly an enemy behind.
Nan of Music Mountain|Frank H. Spearman

British Dictionary definitions for fantasy

fantasy

phantasy

/ (ˈfæntəsɪ) /

noun plural -sies

imagination unrestricted by reality
(as modifier)a fantasy world

a creation of the imagination, esp a weird or bizarre one

psychol

a series of pleasing mental images, usually serving to fulfil a need not gratified in reality
the activity of forming such images

a whimsical or far-fetched notion

an illusion, hallucination, or phantom

a highly elaborate imaginative design or creation

music another word for fantasia, fancy (def. 13), (rarely) development (def. 5)

literature having a large fantasy content
a prose or dramatic composition of this type

(modifier) of or relating to a competition, often in a newspaper, in which a participant selects players for an imaginary ideal team, and points are awarded according to the actual performances of the chosen playersfantasy football

verb -sies, -sying or -sied

a less common word for fantasize

Word Origin for fantasy

C14 fantasie, from Latin phantasia, from Greek 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

Medicine definitions for fantasy

fantasy

[ făn′tə-sē, -zē ]

n.

Imagery that is more or less coherent, as in dreams and daydreams, yet unrestricted by reality.phantasia