variants
also chimeric
as in imaginary
not real and existing only in the imagination
for the time being, interplanetary travel remains a chimerical feature of life in the 21st century
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of chimerical
The album’s more frenetic tracks lean further toward the uncanny, developing chimeric grooves that brim with unresolved tension.
—
Maxie Younger,
Pitchfork,
27 Mar. 2026
Our ability to ignore, repress, and deny is matched only by our ability to believe the unbelievable and to give chimeric notions the power to found religions, nations, and institutions.
—
Robert Pogue Harrison,
The New York Review of Books,
19 Mar. 2026
There’s also ongoing progress in chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy and other immunotherapies for cancer, as well as in personalized cancer vaccines.
—
The Editors,
Scientific American,
16 Dec. 2025
The fantasy of endless space is what matters, a great chimeric promise, this production understands, that both sustains the nation and goes unfulfilled.
—
Jackson McHenry,
Vulture,
16 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for chimerical
Maxie Younger,
Pitchfork,
27 Mar. 2026
Our ability to ignore, repress, and deny is matched only by our ability to believe the unbelievable and to give chimeric notions the power to found religions, nations, and institutions.
—
Robert Pogue Harrison,
The New York Review of Books,
19 Mar. 2026
There’s also ongoing progress in chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy and other immunotherapies for cancer, as well as in personalized cancer vaccines.
—
The Editors,
Scientific American,
16 Dec. 2025
The fantasy of endless space is what matters, a great chimeric promise, this production understands, that both sustains the nation and goes unfulfilled.
—
Jackson McHenry,
Vulture,
16 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for chimerical
Recent Examples of Synonyms for chimerical
Adjective
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Other ideas involve arts and crafts projects, or playing imaginary games with her 8-year-old sister.
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The Vision Award pays tribute to someone whose creative work has contributed to the renewal of the cinematographic imaginary.
Adjective
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The book traces the fictitious Yeoman family’s evolution over generations from self-sufficient homesteaders to participants in global markets.
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Hosting its usual presentation at its headquarters, located a stone’s throw from San Babila square, the brand installed video walls that broadcast a fictitious runway show created with the help of AI.
Adjective
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Not to be outdone, Nintendo released a console of their own, the GameCube, which was a little underappreciated in its heyday, but has reached almost mythical status with the passage of time.
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Since her tragic death at age 36 in 1997, the almost mythical lure of her jewels has only grown.
Adjective
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While the heroine in this novel is fictional, readers will be drawn to this mystery set during WWII about codebreaking, and a Nazi threat on American soil.
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Cue a whole host of dodgy deals and shady string-pulling, not to mention an extramarital affair, as the entirely fictional — but no doubt true to life — character abandons any sense of morality.
Adjective
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The humanities will survive not by defending an imagined past of disinterested purity, but by demonstrating their necessity in a fractured republic.
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That is, real, not merely illusory, measures, so that the allure to breach peace for imagined gains is overshadowed.
Adjective
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Peter [Merry] likes to use is that, when a caterpillar is becoming a butterfly, new ‘imaginal cells’ emerge.
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With one technique, for example—called imaginal exposure—you might be asked to visualize the process of going to the airport, boarding the plane, and experiencing a bad bout of turbulence.
Cite this Entry
“Chimerical.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/chimerical. Accessed 28 Jun. 2026.
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