fantasy

noun

fan·​ta·​sy ˈfan-tə-sē  -zē 

variants or less commonly phantasy

plural fantasies

1

: the power or process of creating especially unrealistic or improbable mental images in response to psychological need

an object of fantasy

also : a mental image or a series of mental images (such as a daydream) so created

sexual fantasies

2

: a creation of the imagination: such as

a

: an idea that is far removed from reality : a chimerical or fantastic notion

His plans are pure fantasy.

b

: imaginative fiction featuring especially strange settings and grotesque characters

spent the summer reading fantasy

called also fantasy fiction

c

: fantasia sense 1

the organ fantasy of Johannes Brahms

d

: a fanciful design or invention

a fantasy of delicate tracery

3

: fancy

especially : the free play of creative imagination

4

: caprice

served to fulfill the king's fantasies

5

: a coin usually not intended for circulation as currency and often issued by a dubious authority (such as a government-in-exile)

—often attributive

… fantasy coins and other out-of-the-ordinary numismatic items.

—Robert Aaron

6

obsolete : hallucination

Synonyms of fantasy

• dream
• illusion
• daydream
• vision

Examples of fantasy in a Sentence

His plans are pure fantasy.

He can hardly tell the difference between fantasy and reality.

His plans are just fantasies.

Her fantasy is to be a film star.

His plans are the product of pure fantasy.

I spent my summer reading fantasies.

Recent Examples on the Web

His first attempt, a dystopian fantasy, had flopped. —Nathan Heller, Vogue, 29 May 2026

The decor is a composite of countless tropical vacations and excursions, stitched together into a singular fantasy. —Sean Timberlake, Sacbee.com, 29 May 2026

Liu is sworn to secrecy about the latter fantasy epic, joking that a publicist will blow dart us from across the room for saying too much. —Patrick Ryan, USA Today, 29 May 2026

Viewed harshly, Hacks is less a great Hollywood comedy than a deeply coddling fantasy, but there’s also a softer, more interesting way to read it. —Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 29 May 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English fantasie, fantsy, fansey "the imagination as a faculty, mental image produced by this faculty, deluded notion, figment of the imagination, preference directed by caprice rather than reason, liking," borrowed from Anglo-French fantasie "imagination as a faculty, figment of the imagination, dizziness," borrowed from Late Latin phantasia "imagination as a faculty, mental image of something perceived physically, image evoked by a poet or orator, a thing imagined by someone sleeping or ill, delusion," going back to Latin, "imagined situation or experience," borrowed from Greek phantasía "appearance, presentation to consciousness (whether immediate or in memory), image, imagination as a faculty, imagery," noun derivative corresponding to phantázein "to make visible, present to the eye or mind, (middle voice) place before one's mind, picture to oneself, imagine," causative verb from phantós "visible," verbal adjective of phaínō, phaínein (active voice) "to bring to light, cause to appear," and phaínomai, phaínesthai (middle voice) "to become visible, come to light, appear," going back to *phan-i̯e/o-, thematized from Indo-European *b^h-né-h₂-/b^h-n̥-h₂- (whence also Armenian banam "(I) open, reveal"), nasal present from *b^heh₂- "shine, give light, appear," whence Sanskrit bhā́ti "(it) shines, beams," Avestan fra-uuāiti "(it) beams forth"; the verb is allied to nominal derivatives in -n-, as Germanic *bōnjan- (whence Old English bōn "ornament," gebōned "ornamented," Middle Dutch boenen "to scrub, polish"), Old Irish bán "white, fair, bright," Tocharian B peñiyo "splendor," Sanskrit bhānú- "light, beam, brilliance, appearance," Avestan bānu- "beam of light"

Note: Compare fancy entry 2, in Middle English a rare variant of fantasie; the two split from each other in early Modern English, so that fancy entry 2 and fantasy now differ in meaning and construction. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries a not infrequent sense, usually with the spelling phantasy, was "the formation of images or representations in direct perception or in memory," more or less following the Greek meaning. — Regarding the relation of *b^heh₂- "shine, give light, appear" to the homonymous base *b^heh₂- "speak, say," see note at ban entry 1.

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 6

Phrases Containing fantasy

• fantasy football/baseball/basketball
• fantasy league
• fantasy sports
• fantasy team
• flight of fancy/imagination/fantasy
• live in a fantasy world

Rhymes for fantasy

• phantasy

Kids Definition

fantasy

noun

fan·​ta·​sy

variants also phantasy

ˈfant-ə-sē, 

-ə-zē

plural fantasies

1

: imagination sense 3, fancy

2

: something imagined: as

a

: illusion sense 2

b

: fantasia

c

: a work of literature set in an unreal world often with superhuman characters and monsters

Medical Definition

fantasy

1 of 2 noun

fan·​ta·​sy

variants also phantasy

ˈfant-ə-sē  -zē 

plural fantasies

: the power or process of creating especially unrealistic or improbable mental images in response to psychological need

an object of fantasy

also : a mental image or a series of mental images (as a daydream) so created

sexual fantasies of adolescence

fantasy

2 of 2 verb

variants also phantasy

fantasied; fantasying

: fantasize