fantasia

noun

fan·ta·sia fan-ˈtā-zhə

-zhē-ə,

-zē-ə;

ˌfan-tə-ˈzē-ə

: a free usually instrumental composition not in strict form

: a work (such as a poem or play) in which the author's fancy roves unrestricted

: something possessing grotesque, bizarre, or unreal qualities

Examples of fantasia in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Originally opened in 1965 by Johnno Jackson, an avid sailor who wanted to create a tropical island fantasia, Kona Village was a time machine, a dream factory, a memory maker. —

Hugh Garvey, Sunset Magazine, 6 Nov. 2023 That’s an awfully glib connection to make, especially for an architect whose centerpiece fantasia at Hudson Yards has been closed for more than two years because visitors were, entirely predictably, jumping off. —

Justin Davidson, Curbed, 23 Oct. 2023 Just as Vogue staged a fashion fantasia that honored Britain’s artistic heritage, Moncler is looking back on its own storied past. —

Kerry McDermott, Vogue, 14 Sep. 2023 Next Door [Unseen Worlds] Leo Takami conjures a fantasia of jazz, prog rock, and Japanese environmental music on his follow-up to 2020 breakthrough LP Felis Catus & Silence. —

Hattie Lindert, Pitchfork, 6 Oct. 2023 The other major tour this year that is enticing fans to book transcontinental flights, and to show up costumed and in rapture, is also by a woman: Beyoncé, 41, whose Renaissance tour is a fantasia of disco and retrofuturism. —

Ben Sisario, New York Times, 5 Aug. 2023 The resulting collection offered baggy, flapping raincoats, chunky shoes, and shorts paired with thick socks—a fantasia on the kinds of garment Grant wore to dash from the painting studio to the walled garden at Charleston. —

Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker, 18 Sep. 2023 The pink fantasia has collected more than $1.2 billion globally and has remained the No. 1 movie for four consecutive weeks. —

Ethan Shanfeld, Variety, 17 Aug. 2023 The saga of Michael Oher, as told by Lewis, always read like a fantasia, one intended to put the gloss of white saviorhood on a set of events that smacked of racial exploitation. —

Steve Almond, Los Angeles Times, 17 Aug. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'fantasia.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

probably borrowed from Italian, "imagination as a faculty, rare phenomenon, exotic object, refined ornament, improvised musical variation," borrowed from Late Latin phantasia "imagination as a faculty, mental image of something perceived physically" — more at fantasy entry 1

Note: The musical term is conventionally attributed to Italian, though the linguistic context in which it is first used is uncertain.

First Known Use

1724, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler

The first known use of fantasia was in 1724

See more words from the same year