fantasia

noun

fan·​ta·​sia fan-ˈtā-zhə 

-zhē-ə,

-zē-ə;

ˌfan-tə-ˈzē-ə

1

: a free usually instrumental composition not in strict form

2

a

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

b

: something possessing grotesque, bizarre, or unreal qualities

Examples of fantasia in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Weiss and Benioff created the wildly popular Game of Thrones, and Woo’s writing credits include HBO’s Southern Gothic vampire fantasia, True Blood, and AMC’s short lived but acclaimed anthology, The Terror. —Ian Malone, Vogue, 21 Mar. 2024

This novel’s relatively conventional premise—an anthropology student moves to a provincial village to conduct research—belies the bizarre fantasia that unfolds in its pages, in which moments across history occur simultaneously. —The New Yorker, 29 Jan. 2024

But then again, every sci-fi fantasia is, at some point, a tale of dark meeting the light. —Daniel Rodgers, Vogue, 2 Feb. 2024

Its fantasias are more melancholic, its themes of longing more resentful. —Allaire Nuss, EW.com, 6 Feb. 2024

Such are the sublime absurdities that abound in this delirious historical fantasia, which can be said to be many things: funny, ghastly, eye-opening, marvelous and frequently confounding. —Sam Sacks, WSJ, 12 Jan. 2024

Gerwig transformed Barbie and her world into a pop-pink feminist fantasia. —Joey Nolfi, EW.com, 23 Jan. 2024

A certain ineluctable logic governs this collision of worlds: television’s foremost fantasia of Birkin bags, spa days, private-jet travel, and real-life Malibu beach houses infiltrating the most plastic realm there is. —Vulture, 15 Dec. 2023

Despite this, this little boy playing Mowgli—with his soft gaze and nimble limbs—provides a jolt of energy to this colonial fantasia, one whose Technicolor palette heightens the artifice on display. —Hazlitt, 29 Nov. 2023

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

Kids Definition

fantasia

noun

fan·​ta·​sia fan-ˈtā-zhə 

ˌfant-ə-ˈzē-ə

: a musical composition written without following a particular style