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 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
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
See All Example Sentences for chimera
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
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
See All Example Sentences for chimera
Recent Examples of Synonyms for chimera
Noun
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While Goodman’s paradoxes and fantasies posed challenges to me as her biographer, with the advent of AI slop and ChatGPT, our courtship with illusion (and possibly delusion) is here to stay.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
13 May 2026
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Van Dyke saw his job less as someone creating CG imagery — of which there was almost none in the sequence — than as a sort of additional set decorator, adding physical elements to sell the illusion.—
Jim Hemphill,
IndieWire,
12 May 2026
Noun
-
Then there are those fighting and clawing to extend their NFL dream, such as Mason Reiger, who signed as a rookie free agent because his draft stock tanked because of medical evaluation.—
Omar Kelly,
Miami Herald,
10 May 2026
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What was once street play and schoolyard competition now carries the weight of a national dream.—
Ricci Shryock,
NPR,
10 May 2026
Noun
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Keeping track of the other, less consequential games may then only appeal to sports bettors and fantasy football players.—
Bobby Burack OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
14 May 2026
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Projects in development span the genres of romance, drama, horror, action and fantasy.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
14 May 2026
Noun
-
Some stories plant deep in your creative brain and come out through songs heard on the radio and random daydreams in the shower.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
7 May 2026
-
Just think of all those vacant Madonnas, structurally perfect compositions, and obedient daydreams of antiquity.—
Zachary Fine,
New Yorker,
20 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Choose the move that makes the whole vision feel more possible.—
Tarot.com,
Hartford Courant,
14 May 2026
-
Genre films with a creative vision, by contrast, are finding space.—
Emiliano De Pablos,
Variety,
13 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Chimera.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/chimera. Accessed 16 May. 2026.
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