variants
also fantasms
1
as in illusions
a conception or image created by the imagination and having no objective reality
frightened by the phantasms of his own making
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in apparitions
the soul of a dead person thought of especially as appearing to living people
believed that she'd seen the phantasm of her father on the anniversary of his death
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for phantasms
Noun
-
India will try to pursue a stable relationship with China, without any illusions of deep partnership.—
JAMES CRABTREE,
Foreign Affairs,
3 Dec. 2025 -
His fight against the lure of the Upside Down is bolstered by strong performances from its talented cast, mind-bending illusions, and some serious jump scares that will keep you on the edge of your seat.—
EW Staff December 2,
Entertainment Weekly,
2 Dec. 2025
Noun
-
The museum site has been a paranormal hotbed for decades, with sightings of apparitions, security camera footage capturing items flying off shelves, as well as experiences from staff members and visitors.—
Gregory Harutunian,
Chicago Tribune,
30 Apr. 2026
-
There certainly seem to be apparitions in this music, some presence apart from the four musicians and the throngs of fans, which is intensified by the visceral collision of so many sounds.—
Stephen M. Deusner,
Pitchfork,
27 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
On Monday afternoon, the AP projected that Raman would advance to the November general election, setting up a contest between two Democrats with sharply different visions for the city.—
Teresa Liu,
Daily News,
10 June 2026
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Fresh off the stunning success of Jaws, Spielberg began working on an alien epic about an average Joe (played by Richard Dreyfuss) who begins to see unexplained lights in the sky and has visions of a mysterious tower.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
10 June 2026
Noun
-
The railroad got cut to maximize walking spaces while the Haunted Mansion was removed out of respect for Chinese cultural sensitivities regarding death and spirits.—
Caroline Reid,
Forbes.com,
14 June 2026
-
For more than 48 hours, captain Lillian Zulu had been trying to keep her squad's spirits high despite mounting obstacles.—
Ryan Lenora Brown,
NPR,
14 June 2026
Noun
-
For one, the inspiring and bonding experience of Cowgirl Up—a week where women from across the globe come to live out their dreams of an iconic ranch stay—and not only release, but exercise their inner cowboy.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
16 June 2026
-
These memories of his brief, sad human life are uneasy dreams that Lestat wakes from on his tour bus as the sun sets over the road to Toledo.—
Rebecca Alter,
Vulture,
15 June 2026
Noun
-
There were, of course, notable differences from the ghosts of 2025 conferences past.—
Alexis Kayser,
MSNBC Newsweek,
4 Dec. 2025
-
But that isn’t to say there aren’t still ghosts, monsters, and trickery aplenty in this story of a teen boy and girl fleeing into the Utah mountains to save a pair of horses pegged for slaughter.—
Emma Alpern,
Vulture,
2 Dec. 2025
Noun
-
These fantasies can all skew toward exclusionary extremism on the left and the right.—
Eliza Goodpasture,
ARTnews.com,
3 June 2026
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In those pages, Fiedler dared to argue that many of America’s boyish and putatively innocent classics are in fact fantasies of interracial, homosexual romance.—
Becca Rothfeld,
New Yorker,
1 June 2026
Noun
-
Over the course of the next 70 seconds, Mauricio Pochettino’s team put together a 26-pass move from left to right, through defense and attack and left Paraguay’s players chasing shadows.—
James Robson,
Chicago Tribune,
13 June 2026
-
Light filters through various openings, while shadows pool in unexpected corners.—
Y-Jean Mun-Delsalle,
Forbes.com,
10 June 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Phantasms.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/phantasms. Accessed 17 Jun. 2026.
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