PHANTASM Synonyms: 88 Similar and Opposite Words

phantasm

noun

ˈfan-ˌta-zəm

variants also fantasm

Definition of phantasm

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

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 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 phantasm No one had meant more to Miami during the past three years, devoting themselves to painstakingly lifting a program plump with the phantasm of a reign long past. — Noah White, Miami Herald, 20 Jan. 2026 In times of increasing cynicism and apathy in the zeitgeist, this phantasm extravaganza — at once humorously deadpan in its playful tableaus and poignantly sincere at its emotional core — feels like a breath of fresh air. — Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 21 Oct. 2025 But is the gender phantasm as crucial to the global far right as Butler claims? — Katha Pollitt, The Atlantic, 25 Mar. 2024 Likewise, Poe’s devilish ambiguity, his production of phantasms both real and imagined, undergirds James’s own ventures into the genre. — Phillip MacIak, The New Republic, 11 Oct. 2023 See All Example Sentences for phantasm

Recent Examples of Synonyms for phantasm

Noun

The war has exacted a toll on their economies and shattered illusions about their security.

— Ishaan Tharoor, New Yorker, 5 Nov. 2026
And that created this brand, maybe an illusion for him, of radical transparency.

— Savannah Walsh, Vanity Fair, 3 Nov. 2026

Definition of illusion

Noun

Title granted to the Virgin Mary in honor of her apparitions to three shepherd children (Saints Jacinta and Francisco Marto and Venerable Lucia dos Santos) in Fátima, Portugal, in 1917.

— Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 30 Oct. 2026
The location was a former sugarcane plantation notorious for cruelty, and accounts of apparitions in the water are a reminder of this history.

— Marcus Librizzi, The Conversation, 26 Oct. 2026

Definition of apparition

Noun

The film turned from horror into drama, though it was still marketed in Thailand as a ghost film because that genre sells.

— Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 8 Nov. 2026
Yet every technology transformation is followed by a ghost that rarely appears on a project plan, risk register or executive dashboard.

— Irene Thong, Forbes.com, 5 Nov. 2026

Definition of ghost

Noun

This helps warm up the imagination; daydreams, nightmares are easy ways in.

— Emily Temple, Literary Hub, 20 Oct. 2026
The songs on Purdy also have the tone of journal entries, detailing haggard trips to the grocery store, daydreams about his young daughters’ glamorous adult lives, and observations about the banality of oppression.

— Dash Lewis, Pitchfork, 15 Oct. 2026

Definition of daydream

Noun

As the frightening phantom of Frank the Bunny warns, this parallel reality has a ticking clock that’ll result in its imminent collapse in just 28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes, and 12 seconds.

— Jeff Spry, Space.com, 26 Oct. 2026
Fadal brought up her own phantom smells during a recent podcast conversation with Andrea Donsky, a nutritionist who’s written about and conducted research on this symptom.

— Maggie Ryan, Flow Space, 26 Aug. 2026