1
as in bizarre
conceived or made without regard for reason or reality
she harbors the fanciful notion that she has a talent for singing
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2
as in imaginary
not real and existing only in the imagination
the fanciful creatures that J.R.R. Tolkien created for his Middle Earth novels
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Recent Examples of fanciful
The space was as vast as an airplane hangar, at once utilitarian and fanciful—a Bed Bath & Beyond stockroom crossed with a cabinet of curiosities.
—
Alexandra Schwartz, New Yorker, 20 Oct. 2025
Another more fanciful origin story goes that the Jade Emperor (a principal figure in Chinese mythology) threatened to burn down a village after its citizens accidentally killed his favorite pet crane.
—Sarah Buder, AFAR Media, 20 Oct. 2025
Democrats today are guided not by sober empiricism but by fanciful ideology.
—Josh Hammer, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 Oct. 2025
Manager Luis Enrique may well have argued any such talk was fanciful, given the length of his team’s early-season injury list, with Marquinhos, Ousmane Dembele, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Desire Doue, Joao Neves, Bradley Barcola and Fabian Ruiz all enduring time out already.
—Jack Bantock, New York Times, 17 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for fanciful
Alexandra Schwartz, New Yorker, 20 Oct. 2025
Another more fanciful origin story goes that the Jade Emperor (a principal figure in Chinese mythology) threatened to burn down a village after its citizens accidentally killed his favorite pet crane.
—Sarah Buder, AFAR Media, 20 Oct. 2025
Democrats today are guided not by sober empiricism but by fanciful ideology.
—Josh Hammer, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 Oct. 2025
Manager Luis Enrique may well have argued any such talk was fanciful, given the length of his team’s early-season injury list, with Marquinhos, Ousmane Dembele, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Desire Doue, Joao Neves, Bradley Barcola and Fabian Ruiz all enduring time out already.
—Jack Bantock, New York Times, 17 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for fanciful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fanciful
Adjective
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Even its star, Kim Kardashian, is leaning into the bizarre criticism, posting photos on Instagram of herself laughing along with the rest of the cast, interspersed with scathing reviews.—
Rebecca Aizin,
PEOPLE,
7 Nov. 2025
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And calls like Payton’s bizarre third-and-1 trick play involving Courtland Sutton — a double pass that never came to be — aren’t helping.—
Troy Renck,
Denver Post,
7 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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One way to represent a complex number like a + ib is as a point on a plane, where a is the position on the x-axis (which can be thought of as the real number line) and b is the position on an imaginary y-axis.—
Daniel Garisto,
Quanta Magazine,
7 Nov. 2025
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For example, the tests measure AI’s ability to fix inconsistencies in customer invoices Excel spreadsheets for an imaginary sales analyst role, or AI’s ability to create a full production schedule for a 60-second video shoot for an imaginary video producer.—
Jared Perlo,
NBC news,
6 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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The combination of absurd temperatures, damp humidity, and having my hair stick to my neck daily was driving me insane.—
Kayla Greaves,
Essence,
6 Nov. 2025
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Plus, who doesn’t love Nick Offerman sharing the screen with absurd facial hair?—
Daniel Fienberg,
HollywoodReporter,
6 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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In a white Ford Expedition with exempt plates and red emergency lights, Farzam stopped at a checkpoint manned by the National Guard on January 17 and presented a document showing the vehicle was registered to the fictitious Santa Muerte Fire Department, prosecutors said.—
Ray Sanchez,
CNN Money,
2 Nov. 2025
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The film is set in a version of America that, while fictitious, still feels distinctly American.—
Kate Erbland,
IndieWire,
30 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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That was questionable, but not egregiously foolish, in our view, because of the limited amount of time left.—
Barry Jackson,
Miami Herald,
3 Nov. 2025
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Another agent pointed to how contractions in post-strike, post-pandemic Hollywood have decimated the theater business, creating new opportunities that Netflix would be foolish to pass up.—
Chris Lee,
Vulture,
3 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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Anmore and Fort Langley — to make up the fictional community.—
Emily Blackwood,
PEOPLE,
8 Nov. 2025
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SpringHill’s involvement signals a likely retention of the original’s format, with real sports stars playing themselves as clients of the fictional sports agency.—
Nellie Andreeva,
Deadline,
7 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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Drake Maye, the third overall pick in 2024, is playing unreal football right now after connecting on 21 of 23 passes to beat the Titans 31-13 last week.—
Luca Evans,
Denver Post,
25 Oct. 2025
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Dohnányi, after no end of rigorous rehearsal, obtained a collective sound of unreal, flabbergasting clarity.—
Alex Ross,
New Yorker,
21 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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The repetition of that mythic version has buttressed the belief that the fight for American independence was an event somehow separate from world history.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
7 Nov. 2025
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That was a really great mythic take.—
Brian Davids,
HollywoodReporter,
4 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Fanciful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fanciful. Accessed 15 Nov. 2025.
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