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
Relevance
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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of figments
Are the protagonist’s past lives real, or just figments of his psychosis?
—
Literary Hub, 25 Aug. 2025
Literary Hub, 25 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for figments
Noun
-
Audience online have embraced the musical's campy humor, jaw-dropping stage illusions and sing-along score, with bootleg of the production going viral on TikTok and YouTube.—
Dave Quinn,
PEOPLE,
1 Oct. 2025
-
This is a month that asks you to cut through illusions and create a sense of structure where chaos has otherwise ruled the roost.—
Meghan Rose,
Glamour,
1 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
The End, the past year has seen a surge in speculative fictions about super-rich characters who hunker down in expensive isolation as the world burns.—
Judy Berman,
Time,
19 Sep. 2025
-
It is rooted in the dehumanizing language and convenient fictions that precede acts of violence.—
Brad Braxton,
Chicago Tribune,
1 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
That credo reasserts itself as Polly begins to be haunted by visions of her loved ones.—
J. Kim Murphy,
Variety,
11 Oct. 2025
-
Esmail seems too enamored of his own (tiresome) visions of Nifty Things That Might Happen During an Apocalypse to actually bother fleshing any of these characters out.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
10 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Yet his film, even in its omissions, brims with strategic ingenuity and daring, cinematic and political—to fight other films’ empty fantasies with substantial ones, to battle other advocates’ pernicious myths with virtuous ones.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
7 Oct. 2025
-
Dominant culture echoed with racist fantasies like of Birth of a Nation (1915; based on a novel and play of 1905) and Gone With The Wind (novel 1936, movie 1939).—
Matthew Wills,
JSTOR Daily,
5 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Ellen retreats to her room and daydreams of her father, who understood his headstrong daughter.—
Lincee Ray Published,
EW.com,
8 Aug. 2025
-
In the Netflix dramedy Too Much, a brokenhearted American, Jess, makes the move across the pond, inspired in part by daydreams of stately castles, rolling green hills and dashing gentlemen professing their ardent admiration.—
Angie Han,
HollywoodReporter,
8 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
Such dreams of prosperity are only permitted for so long.—
Dan Duggan,
New York Times,
6 Oct. 2025
-
There's no shortage of viewers who, upon watching the film as a child, saw Dracula in both their nightmares and dreams.—
Randall Colburn,
Entertainment Weekly,
6 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Who among us hasn’t fantasized in the shower about exacting elaborate revenge for petty upsets, or lain awake trying to reframe our humiliations as epic tales of triumph?—
Angie Han,
HollywoodReporter,
11 Oct. 2025
-
Molina shares a cell with revolutionary Valentín Arregui (Diego Luna), and the two men bond as Molina tells tales of his favorite mid-century movie star, Ingrid Luna (Jennifer Lopez), and her best film, Kiss of the Spider Woman.—
Maureen Lee Lenker,
Entertainment Weekly,
11 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Psychosis — marked by hallucinations, delusions or loss of reality — is another sign.—
Kristen Rogers,
CNN Money,
10 Oct. 2025
-
Users who spend hours talking to the bot report being led to various delusions.—
Gili Malinsky,
CNBC,
6 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Figments.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/figments. Accessed 14 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share