Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective imaginary contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of imaginary are chimerical, fanciful, fantastic, quixotic, and visionary. While all these words mean "unreal or unbelievable," imaginary applies to something which is fictitious and purely the product of one's imagination.

an imaginary desert isle

How does the word chimerical relate to other synonyms for imaginary?

Chimerical combines the implication of visionary and fantastic.

chimerical dreams of future progress

In what contexts can fanciful take the place of imaginary?

In some situations, the words fanciful and imaginary are roughly equivalent. However, fanciful suggests the free play of the imagination.

a teller of fanciful stories

When is it sensible to use fantastic instead of imaginary?

The words fantastic and imaginary can be used in similar contexts, but fantastic implies incredibility or strangeness beyond belief.

a fantastic world inhabited by monsters

When could quixotic be used to replace imaginary?

Although the words quixotic and imaginary have much in common, quixotic implies a devotion to romantic or chivalrous ideals unrestrained by ordinary prudence and common sense.

a quixotic crusade

When is visionary a more appropriate choice than imaginary?

While in some cases nearly identical to imaginary, visionary stresses impracticality or incapability of realization.

visionary schemes

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of imaginary In the postwar period, car culture has become a seductive violation of private and public space, manifested in its ever more powerful cult status and continually expanding fetishization of an imaginary self-ruling and self-rolling subject secreted in shiny, protective armor. Benjamin H. D. Buchloh, Artforum, 1 June 2025 In search of an imaginary land where true love is possible, the begin digging a tunnel through an entire mountain range. Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 13 May 2025 But what were his motivations for the sculptural cut that reduced the body by a third, literally disabling all of the fetish’s functions except for those of its primary feature, the design, thereby intensifying it, endowing it even with an imaginary, almost futuristic acceleration? Benjamin H. D. Buchloh, Artforum, 1 June 2025 Dairy farmers should not be the villains in an imaginary climate change narrative - they should be respected as part of the backbone of our state's rural economy and heritage. Mandy Taheri, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 May 2025 See All Example Sentences for imaginary
Recent Examples of Synonyms for imaginary
Adjective
  • In the film, a massive great white shark hunts people swimming in the water surrounding the fictitious Amity Island.
    Natalie Neysa Alund, USA Today, 13 June 2025
  • Ever since Max began streaming the drama about life in a fictitious Pittsburgh emergency room, it’s been one pinch-me moment after another for Wyle and his fellow executive producers John Wells and R. Scott Gemmill.
    Lynette Rice, Deadline, 12 June 2025
Adjective
  • In the book, five strangers – a white American geographer, a South Sudanese translator, a northern Sudanese cook, a Sudanese-American filmmaker, and a local boy – find themselves at an NGO compound in the fictional town of Saraaya, on the border of Sudan and South Sudan.
    Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 23 June 2025
  • The fictional town of Havenport was filmed in Wilmington, NC, and nearby Southport, NC.
    Monica Mercuri, Forbes.com, 23 June 2025
Adjective
  • Even with the security, though, collectors and fans are able to get up close to items that may have previously seemed mythical.
    Larry Holder, New York Times, 21 June 2025
  • The electric Nebraska has become a mythical object for Springsteen fans over the years, and there’s been a lot of evidence suggesting the tapes do exist.
    Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 19 June 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Imaginary.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/imaginary. Accessed 1 Jul. 2025.

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