chimerical

adjective

chi·​me·​ri·​cal kī-ˈmer-i-kəl 

kə-,

-ˈmir-

variants or less commonly chimeric

kī-ˈmer-ik 

kə-,

-ˈmir- 

1

: existing only as the product of unchecked imagination : fantastically visionary (see visionary entry 1 sense 2) or improbable

chimerical dreams of economic stability

2

: given to fantastic schemes

She's a chimerical optimist infused with utopian visions.

3

usually chimeric

a

: relating to, derived from, or being a genetic chimera : containing tissue with two or more genetically distinct populations of cells

Chimeric mice are generated by mixing cells from two embryos, generating a mouse with four parental contributions.

—Nancy L. Nadon

b

: composed of material (such as DNA or polypeptide) from more than one organism

He combined this gene material with safer human DNA and created what's known as a chimeric gene—a gene of antibody instructions that is part man, part mouse.

—Eric Hand

chimerically

kī-ˈmer-i-k(ə-)lē 

kə-

-ˈmir-

adverb

Synonyms

• fantastical
• mythic
• mythical
• fictitious
• fictional

Choose the Right Synonym for chimerical

imaginary, fanciful, visionary, fantastic, chimerical, quixotic mean unreal or unbelievable.

imaginary applies to something which is fictitious and purely the product of one's imagination.

an imaginary desert isle

fanciful suggests the free play of the imagination.

a teller of fanciful stories

visionary stresses impracticality or incapability of realization.

visionary schemes

fantastic implies incredibility or strangeness beyond belief.

a fantastic world inhabited by monsters

chimerical combines the implication of visionary and fantastic.

chimerical dreams of future progress

quixotic implies a devotion to romantic or chivalrous ideals unrestrained by ordinary prudence and common sense.

a quixotic crusade

Examples of chimerical in a Sentence

for the time being, interplanetary travel remains a chimerical feature of life in the 21st century

Recent Examples on the Web

Projections of economic gains from major sporting events are typically optimistic, euphoric, chimerical or conjectural. —Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 19 June 2025

In spite of everything, the setting continues to compel me, as does the puzzle of Flores’s fiction, which frames the South Texas border region as a territory both physical and chimerical. —David L. Ulin, The Atlantic, 21 Feb. 2025

Meanwhile, Kilgore, his dream of fame approaching, also sees its chimerical agonies. —Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 14 Feb. 2025

This trial, funded by the National Cancer Institute, uses chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells that are injected directly into the dog's lymph nodes. —Dan Perry, Newsweek, 31 Jan. 2025

Word History

Etymology

chimera

First Known Use

1638, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for chimerical

• hysterical
• numerical
• anticlerical
• hemispherical
• clerical
• spherical