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Showing results for fanciful. Search instead for fancifully.
Synonyms

fanciful

American  
[fan-si-fuhl] / ˈfæn sɪ fəl /

adjective

  1. characterized by or showing fancy; capricious or whimsical in appearance.

    a fanciful design of butterflies and flowers.

  2. suggested by fancy; imaginary; unreal.

    fanciful lands of romance.
    Synonyms:
    illusory, baseless, visionary

  3. led by fancy rather than by reason and experience; whimsical.

    a fanciful mind.
fanciful British  
/ ˈfænsɪfʊl /

adjective

  1. not based on fact; dubious or imaginary

    fanciful notions

  2. made or designed in a curious, intricate, or imaginative way

  3. indulging in or influenced by fancy; whimsical

"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

Other Word Forms

  • fancifully adverb
  • fancifulness noun
  • overfanciful adjective
  • overfancifully adverb
  • overfancifulness noun
  • unfanciful adjective

Etymology

Origin of fanciful

First recorded in 1620–30; fancy + -ful

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

An industry colleague recently admitted that while she was appalled by Ms. Owens’s fanciful claims, she kept tuning in for the next installment of “crazy.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 26, 2026

It is not fanciful to suspect that Iranian capabilities are being degraded very quickly.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 13, 2026

Altay Bayindir will not be replacing him any time soon and the idea Andre Onana might come back from his loan spell in Turkey to reclaim the number-one role is fanciful.

From BBC • Feb. 26, 2026

"I'm optimistic enough, but I know that we have to work really hard so that optimism becomes a reality, not just a fanciful dream," he said.

From Barron's • Feb. 19, 2026

There is another quite different problem exemplified by these stock-market forecasts and fanciful explanations of success.

From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.