fantasy

American  

[fan-tuh-see, -zee] / ˈfæn tə si, -zi /

Rarely phantasy

noun

PLURAL

fantasies

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; 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. Literature.  Also 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.

---

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)

fantasied, fantasying

1. to form mental images; imagine; fantasize.

2. Rare.  to write or play fantasias.

fantasy British  

/ 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. 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. a less common word for fantasize

Related Words

See fancy .

Other Word Forms

• nonfantasy noun

Etymology

Origin of fantasy

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 , -y ³

Example Sentences

Injuries have made that a fantasy, as they have gone 5-4 since including blowout losses to Washington, Indianapolis and Jacksonville.

From Los Angeles Times

Because of the economic gravity of fantasy sports leagues and legal gambling, the numbers most of us hear about these days have more to do with bettors making money than with players making shots.

From Los Angeles Times

For years, I fed myself the fantasy that things hadn’t worked out with anyone else because who I was meant to be with was Allen.

From Los Angeles Times

Bones transformed classical singer Charlotte Church into her drag sister, named Blood, and the pair donned co-ordinated cream silk and lace outfits as part of a vampire wedding fantasy.

From BBC

I was picked on, so I retreated into the fantasy world of television.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

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