figment

[ fig-muhnt ]

noun

1. a mere product of mental invention; a fantastic notion:

   The noises in the attic were just a figment of his imagination.

2. a feigned, invented, or imagined story, theory, etc.:

   biographical and historical figments.

figment

/ ˈfɪɡmənt /

noun

1. a fantastic notion, invention, or fabrication

   a figment of the imagination

Word History and Origins

Origin of figment¹

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin figmentum “something made or feigned,” equivalent to fig- (base of fingere “to mold, feign”) + -mentum -ment; fiction ( def )

Word History and Origins

Origin of figment¹

C15: from Late Latin figmentum a fiction, from Latin fingere to shape

Synonym Study

See fiction.

Example Sentences

There are competing factions on the question of what a color actually is — or if it’s anything more than a figment of our imagination.

From Salon

"And it was light and nothing, no tongue, and it was beautiful, it was 'The Princess Bride,'" she said, adding that it feels like such a figment that Taddeo doesn’t even remember how it happened.

From Salon

An imaginary friend is one thing for a child and quite another for a 38-year-old man who drinks excessively with this figment every night.

From Los Angeles Times

When three-year-old Saylor Class began complaining of monsters in her bedroom, her parents thought it was just a figment of a child's overactive imagination.

From BBC

Lying is so core to everything he is and does that he's a figment of his own imagination.

From Salon

Related Words

• daydream