Library / English Dictionary

FANTASY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected form: fantasied   

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Imagination unrestricted by reality

Example:

a schoolgirl fantasy

Synonyms:

fantasy; phantasy

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Hypernyms ("fantasy" is a kind of...):

imagination; imaginativeness; vision (the formation of a mental image of something that is not perceived as real and is not present to the senses)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "fantasy"):

dream; pipe dream (a fantastic but vain hope (from fantasies induced by the opium pipe))

fantasy life; phantasy life (an imaginary life lived in a fantasy world)

fairyland; fantasy world; phantasy world (something existing solely in the imagination (but often mistaken for reality))

Derivation:

fantasist (a creator of fantasies)

fantasize (indulge in fantasies)

fantastic (existing in fancy only)

fantastic (fanciful and unrealistic; foolish)

fantastical (existing in fancy only)

fantasy (indulge in fantasies)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Something many people believe that is false

Example:

they have the illusion that I am very wealthy

Synonyms:

fancy; fantasy; illusion; phantasy

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Hypernyms ("fantasy" is a kind of...):

misconception (an incorrect conception)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "fantasy"):

bubble (an impracticable and illusory idea)

ignis fatuus; will-o'-the-wisp (an illusion that misleads)

wishful thinking (the illusion that what you wish for is actually true)

Derivation:

fantasize; fantasy (indulge in fantasies)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Fiction with a large amount of imagination in it

Example:

she made a lot of money writing romantic fantasies

Synonyms:

fantasy; phantasy

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("fantasy" is a kind of...):

fiction (a literary work based on the imagination and not necessarily on fact)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "fantasy"):

science fiction (literary fantasy involving the imagined impact of science on society)

Derivation:

fantasist (a creator of fantasies)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Indulge in fantasies

Example:

he is fantasizing when he says he plans to start his own company

Synonyms:

fantasise; fantasize; fantasy

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Hypernyms (to "fantasy" is one way to...):

conceive of; envisage; ideate; imagine (form a mental image of something that is not present or that is not the case)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Derivation:

fantasy (imagination unrestricted by reality)

fantasy (something many people believe that is false)

Credits