chimera

noun

kī-ˈmir-ə How to pronounce chimera (audio)
Definition of chimeranext
as in illusion
a conception or image created by the imagination and having no objective reality a monster in the closet would not have been the first chimera that the boy had seen in his mind's eye

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of chimera Rather than a somewhat normal for Hollywood bakeoff, Paramount plans to kind of smush the two scripts together into one IP chimera. — Bethy Squires, Vulture, 27 Feb. 2026 Look behind that curtain and see that the great and powerful Oz is a chimera. — Laura Washington, Chicago Tribune, 14 Jan. 2026 The Animal Legal Defense Fund, an animal advocacy organization, argued that if such chimeras gained humanlike awareness, they should be treated as human research subjects. — Monika Piotrowska, The Conversation, 8 Dec. 2025 The chimera of a two-state solution still has widespread backing within Washington’s traditional foreign policy establishment. — Ray Takeyh, Foreign Affairs, 4 Dec. 2025 See All Example Sentences for chimera
Recent Examples of Synonyms for chimera
  1. illusion
  2. dream
  3. fantasy
  4. daydream
  5. vision
Noun
  • Cognitive symptoms could include illusions or hallucinations — some patients report sensing a shadowy figure nearby — and difficulties with problem solving and navigation.
    — Iris Kwok, Los Angeles Times, 30 Oct. 2026
  • The promotional materials are keen to point out that this is more than a cheap fake, no mere actor or illusion but, in some important way, Dalí.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 30 Oct. 2026
Definition of illusion
Noun
  • Sequenced at the center of a three-track medley, its death-dream logic deliberately evokes the SMiLE era’s dark, confusing edge.
    — Ryan Meehan, Pitchfork, 26 Oct. 2026
  • In a bucket hat and without a care in the world, Murray speaks kindly but candidly about making his buddy Coyne’s TV dream come true.
    — Tony Maglio, HollywoodReporter, 24 Oct. 2026
Definition of dream
Noun
  • What began as an industry of light and illusion had, by the 1940s, become a machinery of control—an empire built on fantasy, running on fear.
    — Jim Hemphill, IndieWire, 27 Oct. 2026
  • Released to critical acclaim in 2022, the role-playing game from Japanese publisher Bandai Namco is set in a dark fantasy world and allows players to head off on adventures within vast environments and dungeons.
    — Andreas Wiseman, Deadline, 27 Oct. 2026
Definition of fantasy
Noun
  • This helps warm up the imagination; daydreams, nightmares are easy ways in.
    — Emily Temple, Literary Hub, 20 Oct. 2026
  • The songs on Purdy also have the tone of journal entries, detailing haggard trips to the grocery store, daydreams about his young daughters’ glamorous adult lives, and observations about the banality of oppression.
    — Dash Lewis, Pitchfork, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of daydream
Noun
  • Cecil oversaw the opening of The Inn in 2001, making good, more than a century later, on his great-grandfather’s original vision for a hotel component to his country estate.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 31 Oct. 2026
  • The summit puts Carney's vision for a new global order to the test.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 30 Oct. 2026
Definition of vision

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chime in
chimera
chimeras
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Cite this Entry

“Chimera.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/chimera. Accessed 1 Nov. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on chimera

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about chimera

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