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

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 formsnon·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

Word Origin and History for fantasy

fantasy

early 14c., "illusory appearance," from Old French fantaisie (14c.) "vision, imagination," from Latin phantasia, from Greek phantasia "appearance, image, perception, imagination," from phantazesthai "picture to oneself," from phantos "visible," from phainesthai "appear," in late Greek "to imagine, have visions," related to phaos, phos "light," phainein "to show, to bring to light" (see phantasm). Sense of "whimsical notion, illusion" is pre-1400, followed by that of "imagination," which is first attested 1530s. Sense of "day-dream based on desires" is from 1926.

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

fantasy

noun, plural fan·ta·sies.

adjective

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

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Nearby words

Origin of fantasy

Examples from the Web for fantasy

British Dictionary definitions for fantasy

fantasy

phantasy

noun plural -sies

verb -sies, -sying or -sied

Word Origin for fantasy

Word Origin and History for fantasy

fantasy

Medicine definitions for fantasy

fantasy

n.