1
as in illusions
a conception or image created by the imagination and having no objective reality
unable to find any tracks in the snow the next morning, I was forced to conclude that the shadowy figure had been a figment of my imagination
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in fictions
something that is the product of the imagination
thus far, the invisible human being has been nothing more than a figment of fantasy writers
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of figments
That description is essentially true; as a puppet designer and puppeteer, his job entails figuring out how to materialize figments of the imagination.
—
Carlos Aguilar, Los Angeles Times, 7 Apr. 2026
Boone is relentlessly hounded by figments of his guilty memory, by other ghosts, and by his daughter—all of whom emphasize his nefarious role in delaying action to combat climate change.
—Julius Taranto, The Atlantic, 27 Jan. 2026
On the live stream, Nacua questioned whether head injuries are real or just figments of the imagination.
—Nate Atkins, New York Times, 16 Jan. 2026
Are the protagonist’s past lives real, or just figments of his psychosis?
—Literary Hub, 25 Aug. 2025
Carlos Aguilar, Los Angeles Times, 7 Apr. 2026
Boone is relentlessly hounded by figments of his guilty memory, by other ghosts, and by his daughter—all of whom emphasize his nefarious role in delaying action to combat climate change.
—Julius Taranto, The Atlantic, 27 Jan. 2026
On the live stream, Nacua questioned whether head injuries are real or just figments of the imagination.
—Nate Atkins, New York Times, 16 Jan. 2026
Are the protagonist’s past lives real, or just figments of his psychosis?
—Literary Hub, 25 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for figments
Noun
-
Masks are slipping and illusions are fading.—
Valerie Mesa,
PEOPLE,
6 May 2026
-
The United States, searching for self-definition but loath to lose its illusions—its innocence—needed all of this as a counterpoint.—
Sebastian Smee,
New Yorker,
4 May 2026
Noun
-
Fascism spins the greatest fictions of all time—about race, about origins, about past and future glories—and people eat them up.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
27 Apr. 2026
-
The fictions of both films are factually contextualized from the start.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
27 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Around him, siblings, lovers and friends face CIA threats, tourist-rental anxieties, drug-dealing producers, secret desire and lottery dreams in a choral portrait of love, family and frustrated escape.—
Callum McLennan,
Variety,
11 May 2026
-
Each gets stage time to speak at length about their dreams, both realized and broken, and regrets.—
Ryan Lattanzio,
IndieWire,
11 May 2026
Noun
-
The sophisticated set by ace production designer David Gropman enables Altman’s perpetually moving and zooming camera to drift in and out of two-way mirrors that depict memories and fantasies with both immediacy and a gauzy nostalgia.—
Jim Hemphill,
IndieWire,
1 May 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
-
Their shared trip gradually turns into a confrontation with their own lives, relationships and visions of the future.—
Leo Barraclough,
Variety,
6 May 2026
-
There are many competing visions of how technology and military strategy should be combined in the Gulf’s waters, some of which cross into the bizarre.—
Mohammed Sergie,
semafor.com,
4 May 2026
Noun
-
Boyson and co-screenwriter Ricky Camilleri overlap tales of two seemingly opposite young guys – wealthy New York teen Balthazar Malone (Jaeden Martell, a casting coup) and loner Texas trailer-park dweller Solomon Jackson (Asa Butterfield, in one of his best performances yet).—
Randy Myers,
Mercury News,
7 May 2026
-
But there are amazing tales of survival as well.—
Paul Eisenberg,
Chicago Tribune,
6 May 2026
Noun
-
Nina, Karen and Caroline started appearing in my daydreams, full of vigor and life lessons.—
Jennifer Acker,
PEOPLE,
8 May 2026
-
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
Noun
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The report also considers which shades best complement the drapey, lightweight fabrications gaining traction in the market.—
Angela Velasquez,
Footwear News,
30 Apr. 2026
-
But Morganroth’s previous stops in at least four states and numerous publications were also marked by falsehoods and fabrications about her background, The Denver Post found.—
Sam Tabachnik,
Denver Post,
8 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Figments.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/figments. Accessed 13 May. 2026.
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