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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Recent Examples of chimera
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
The standard choices presented to us—reason versus superstition, progress versus barbarism, past versus future, space versus Earth, growth versus stasis—were always chimeras.
—Paul Kingsnorth, Harpers Magazine, 19 Sep. 2025
Trump’s yearning after a Nobel Peace Prize is no secret—Israel, Pakistan, and Cambodia have nominated him so far—and Lee may use that chimera to keep Trump onside.
—Charlie Campbell, Time, 17 Sep. 2025
Money savvy players might choose to horde their wealth and splurge on a powerful gun for the final boss round, in which the team must work together to bring down the likes of beastly chimeras that dig underground and towering mutants who perform whirlwind moves.
—Griff Griffin, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for chimera
Ray Takeyh, Foreign Affairs, 4 Dec. 2025
The standard choices presented to us—reason versus superstition, progress versus barbarism, past versus future, space versus Earth, growth versus stasis—were always chimeras.
—Paul Kingsnorth, Harpers Magazine, 19 Sep. 2025
Trump’s yearning after a Nobel Peace Prize is no secret—Israel, Pakistan, and Cambodia have nominated him so far—and Lee may use that chimera to keep Trump onside.
—Charlie Campbell, Time, 17 Sep. 2025
Money savvy players might choose to horde their wealth and splurge on a powerful gun for the final boss round, in which the team must work together to bring down the likes of beastly chimeras that dig underground and towering mutants who perform whirlwind moves.
—Griff Griffin, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for chimera
Recent Examples of Synonyms for chimera
Noun
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But as their profile rises, so do the risks, and the illusion proves increasingly difficult to maintain.—
Anthony D'Alessandro,
Deadline,
22 Apr. 2026
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Jaden McDaniels isn’t worried about the illusion of respect.—
Bennett Durando,
Denver Post,
21 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Near the end of this complex six-hundred-page book, Yamashita switches to a collective pronoun, suggesting that a common dream has connected her characters.—
Hua Hsu,
New Yorker,
20 Apr. 2026
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For aspiring writers scrolling through deal announcements on industry sites or social media, those vague labels can fuel both dreams and misconceptions.—
Josh Rivera,
USA Today,
19 Apr. 2026
Noun
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For much of the season, three trophies would have felt like absolute fantasy.—
Sam Lee,
New York Times,
23 Apr. 2026
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But what Danielson says was intended as a symbolic protest escalated dramatically amid paranoid fantasies, prosaic miscommunications, and the false report of a gun.—
Tessa Stuart,
Rolling Stone,
23 Apr. 2026
Noun
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The family car is a Mazda, but Zac daydreams of a Bugatti Veyron.—
Frank Langfitt,
NPR,
4 Apr. 2026
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More than masturbatory daydreams, Vladimir inspires our heroine to write with abandon, ignoring professional and personal obligations in service to her muse.—
Alison Herman,
Variety,
5 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Maybe only 22 percent of Americans would readily accept Homelander as their one true God, but his vision might also appeal to those Christians whose fanatic prejudices outweigh any specific loyalty to the Bible and its lessons in compassion.—
Ben Rosenstock,
Vulture,
22 Apr. 2026
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Danish billionaire Anders Holch Povlsen created WildLand to help achieve his ambitious 200-year vision to rewild 220,000 acres in the Highlands.—
Jen Murphy,
Condé Nast Traveler,
22 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Chimera.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/chimera. Accessed 25 Apr. 2026.
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