variants
also fantasm
1
as in illusion
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 apparition
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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of phantasm
Those are all real things, not the phantasms of a junk-food loving fourth-grader’s fever dreams.
—
Emily Heil, Washington Post, 22 Aug. 2023
And sometimes the phantasms of artificial intelligence can prompt, in the prompter, genuine emotion.
—Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 1 Mar. 2023
But eventually, the duo turned the phantasm into solid logic.
—Quanta Magazine, 15 July 2021
Southern lawmakers baselessly claimed Black men were lynched for raping White women -- a phantasm that still haunts Black men -- and asserted laws governing lynchings were best left to the states.
—Eliott C. McLaughlin, CNN, 27 May 2021
See All Example Sentences for phantasm
Emily Heil, Washington Post, 22 Aug. 2023
And sometimes the phantasms of artificial intelligence can prompt, in the prompter, genuine emotion.
—Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 1 Mar. 2023
But eventually, the duo turned the phantasm into solid logic.
—Quanta Magazine, 15 July 2021
Southern lawmakers baselessly claimed Black men were lynched for raping White women -- a phantasm that still haunts Black men -- and asserted laws governing lynchings were best left to the states.
—Eliott C. McLaughlin, CNN, 27 May 2021
See All Example Sentences for phantasm
Recent Examples of Synonyms for phantasm
Noun
-
The milky manicure—which gives the illusion of a milky bath—has inspired plenty of spin-offs, usually worn with long almond nails.—
Grace McCarty,
Glamour,
26 Sep. 2025
-
As represented by Camus, absurdism emphasizes accepting the absurdity of life and finding joy without illusions, often through gallows humor.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
25 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Central Staircase An eerie apparition of Mary Worth will appear at the top of the staircase.—
Brady MacDonald,
Oc Register,
16 Sep. 2025
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Ahead of the 500-year anniversary of the Virgin Mary’s apparition in Tepeyac, Mexico, the sculpture is embarking on a worldwide tour, with visits scheduled to Colombia, Puerto Rico and the Philippines, among other places.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
29 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Duff’s return is what a millennial’s dreams are made of, after all.—
Maya Georgi,
Rolling Stone,
22 Sep. 2025
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Everyone goes on Survivor with the dream of winning the title of Sole Survivor and the $1 million prize that goes with it.—
Dalton Ross,
Entertainment Weekly,
22 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Ezra is a doula who can see ghosts, and Jonathan is a widower mourning his late husband, Ben, who Ezra can inexplicably both see and hear, even though that definitely breaks ghost rules.—
Audrey Goldberg Ruoff,
PEOPLE,
27 Sep. 2025
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But why did skeletons, witches and ghosts start popping up as fireworks faded away?—
George Petras,
USA Today,
27 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Much of the film, for all its bristling kineticism, unfolds in closeup; Anderson’s favorite vistas and visions can be mapped out in the human face.—
Justin Chang,
New Yorker,
26 Sep. 2025
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Continue reading … EYES WIDE OPEN – Scientists unveil breakthrough eye drops that restore close-up vision without surgery.—
,
FOXNews.com,
26 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Future Antarctic and radio-neutrino arrays will decide if ANITA glimpsed a phantom or a frontier.—
Kaif Shaikh,
Interesting Engineering,
11 Sep. 2025
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Because contemporary phantoms of Richard Mille, Patek Philippe, and Rolex are expertly constructed to entice even the most discerning eye, provenance is crucial.—
Connie Etemadi,
USA Today,
11 Sep. 2025
Noun
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As people increasingly turn to AI chatbots for emotional support and life advice, recent incidents have put a spotlight on their potential to feed into delusions and facilitate a false sense of closeness or care.—
Angela Yang,
NBC news,
17 Sep. 2025
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The music business, theater, Hollywood — these are obvious places to find folks who live in constant delusion, not to mention places Guest was already well familiar with.—
Anne Victoria Clark,
Vulture,
12 Sep. 2025
Noun
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In rare cases, sleepers gain insight into the unreality of their dreams from within the dream itself.—
Rachel Barr,
Big Think,
20 Aug. 2025
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For Leader, this hammers home the unreality of a studio without an intense marketing machine around it.—
Ryan Gaur,
IndieWire,
10 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Phantasm.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/phantasm. Accessed 29 Sep. 2025.
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