fantasy

[ fan-tuh-see, -zee ]

noun

, plural fan·ta·sies.

1. imagination, especially when extravagant and unrestrained.
2. the forming of mental images, especially wondrous or strange ones; imaginative conceptualizing.
3. a mental image, especially when unreal or fantastic none; vision:

   a nightmare fantasy.

4. Psychology. an imagined or conjured up sequence fulfilling a psychological need; daydream.
5. a hallucination.
6. a supposition based on no solid foundation; visionary idea; illusion:

   dreams of Utopias and similar fantasies.

7. caprice; whim.
8. an ingenious or fanciful thought, design, or invention.
9. a genre of fiction involving magical, folkloric, or mythical elements:

   I've been reading a lot of fantasy lately.

10. Also Literature. an imaginative or fanciful work, especially one dealing with supernatural or unnatural events or characters:

    The stories of Poe are fantasies of horror.

11. Music. fantasia ( def 1 ).

adjective

1. noting or relating to a genre of fiction involving magical, folkloric, or mythical elements:

   All his favorite fantasy novels are about elves.

2. 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.

1. to form mental images; imagine; fantasize none.
2. Rare. to write or play fantasias.

fantasy

/ ˈfæntəsɪ /

noun

1. 1. imagination unrestricted by reality
   2. ( as modifier )

      a fantasy world

2. a creation of the imagination, esp a weird or bizarre one
3. psychol
   1. a series of pleasing mental images, usually serving to fulfil a need not gratified in reality
   2. the activity of forming such images
4. a whimsical or far-fetched notion
5. an illusion, hallucination, or phantom
6. a highly elaborate imaginative design or creation
7. See development, fancy, fantasia
   music another word for fantasia fancy development
8. 1. literature having a large fantasy content
   2. a prose or dramatic composition of this type
9. 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 players

   fantasy football

verb

1. See fantasize
   a less common word for fantasize

Other Words From

• non·fan·ta·sy noun plural nonfantasies

Word History and Origins

Origin of fantasy¹

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English fantasie “imaginative faculty, mental image” (from Anglo-French, Old French ), from Latin phantasia, from Greek phantasía “an idea, notion, image,” literally, “a making visible, display”; fantastic none, -y ³none

Word History and Origins

Origin of fantasy¹

C14 fantasie , from Latin phantasia , from Greek phantazein to make visible

Synonym Study

See fancy none.

Example Sentences

Our fantasies, though, are of the restaurant experience returned to normal.

From Washington Post

Today’s tech capabilities are nowhere near any of those fantasies.

From Science News

Tasmania might seem farther away than ever right now, and while cooking with How Wild Things Are won’t bring it any closer, it makes part of the fantasy of travel — experiencing the food of a place — real, if only for a moment.

From Eater

As a sop to her sad diet, she indulges in mommy-centric sexual fantasies about an older female colleague.

From Washington Post

There are robust communities online dedicated to LARPing, live-action role-playing events in which people gather offline and pretend to be fantasy heroes.

From Washington Post

But if Democrats are faced with the reality of a glut of qualified candidates, Republicans are assembling more of a fantasy team.

From The Daily Beast

That fantasy, however, is still heavily regimented by all sorts of norms.

From The Daily Beast

A lot of the culture around movies in the sci-fi/fantasy genre is about deconstructing them ad nauseam.

From The Daily Beast

What do you think is the best fantasy work that has not been adapted that should?

From The Daily Beast

I harbor a rock ‘n’ roll fantasy, just like anybody, and I welcomed the challenge.

From The Daily Beast

I have a mild grievance against that talented lady, Miss Marjorie Bowen, for labelling her latest novel "a romantic fantasy."

From Project Gutenberg

The monograph on the Sunshade, called by the author ‘a little tumbled fantasy,’ occupies fully one-half of the volume.

From Project Gutenberg

Fantasy as it is, the book has pictures of French-Canadian life which are as true as though the story itself was all true.

From Project Gutenberg

Such as Madame Chalice—ah, she was a part of this brave fantasy, this dream of empire, this inspiring play!

From Project Gutenberg

Perhaps, after all, this story was nothing but an unconscious invention—a fantasy which she thought to be the truth.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• delusion
• fancy
• illusion
• nightmare
• reverie
• vision