fanciful
adjective
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Definition of fanciful
1 : marked by fancy or unrestrained imagination rather than by reason and experience a fanciful person a fanciful tale of a monster in the woods
2 : existing in fancy (see fancy entry 2) only a fanciful notion the falsehoods about some fanciful secret treaties— F. D. Roosevelt
3 : marked by or as if by fancy or whim gave their children fanciful names
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Other Words from fanciful
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adverb
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noun
Synonyms & Antonyms for fanciful
Synonyms
chimerical (also chimeric), fabulous, fantasied, fantastic (also fantastical), fictional, fictitious, ideal, imaginal, imaginary, imagined, invented, made-up, make-believe, mythical (or mythic), notional, phantasmal, phantasmic, phantom, pretend, unreal, visionary
Antonyms
actual, existent, existing, real
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Examples of fanciful in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Folly Soap by the New York product and lighting design firm Pelle offers soap in simple geometric forms inspired by fanciful buildings ($16 to $80 each). — The New York Times, New York Times, "Trends in Design and Architecture," 5 Mar. 2018 The director's background in documentaries is a bonus here, grounding the film's more fanciful magic-realism elements in cool-headed, observational naturalism. — Stephen Dalton, The Hollywood Reporter, "'Volcano': Film Review | Karlovy Vary 2018," 13 July 2018 Then there are plant specimens, presented in ways ranging from the traditional to the fanciful. — Barbara Schreiber, charlotteobserver, "This artist ‘sculpts’ in living trees and fruit. Here’s what he’s doing now in Charlotte," 11 July 2018 At this Clement Street cafe in the Richmond District, latte art is taken to a whole other level with fanciful and technicolor creations. — Sarah Fritsche, San Francisco Chronicle, "Where to find unforgettable tea and coffee service in the Bay Area," 25 May 2018 The journey is often a fanciful one, more metaphoric than realistic, marked by implausible coincidences, touches of folkloric whimsy and an antic sense of humor that keeps pathos at bay. — Margaret Gray, latimes.com, "Joy, heartbreak and psychedelic surf rock power a fierce, funny 'Cambodian Rock Band'," 16 Mar. 2018 Markle swapped out the fanciful fascinators and proper toppers for a panama hat to finish the look with polish. — Edward Barsamian, Vogue, "Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle Make Their First Solo Outing at the Wimbledon’s Women’s Final—In Two Very Different Looks," 14 July 2018 Speaking about Lift in the same IndieWire Studio interview, Hammer emphasized the CEO’s peculiar, consistent logic: [Lift is] a guy who doesn’t consider himself like a fanciful, crazy character. — Hannah Giorgis, The Atlantic, "Sorry to Bother You Has an Eerily Familiar Villain," 10 July 2018 That fanciful offense that most don't have the precision or basketball literacy to pull off? — Rob Mahoney, SI.com, "The LeBron James Experiment: Considering NBA Free Agency Scenarios for The King," 27 June 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'fanciful.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for fanciful
fanciful
adjective
English Language Learners Definition of fanciful
: coming from the imagination
: showing imagination : unusual and appealing
See the full definition for fanciful in the English Language Learners Dictionary
fanciful
adjective
\
Kids Definition of fanciful
1 : showing free use of the imagination a fanciful tale
2 : coming from imagination rather than reason He dreamed up a fanciful plan for getting rich.
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