as in imaginary
not real and existing only in the imagination
phantasmal fears that have prevented her from living a normal life
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Recent Examples of phantasmal
Beyond that, all apparent structures are merely phantasmal.
—
Big Think, 27 Oct. 2025
Big Think, 27 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for phantasmal
Adjective
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An imaginary line drawn through the stars Bellatrix in Orion and Alnitak (the lowest star in Orion's Belt), extended about twice its own length, also leads to Murzam.—
Joe Rao,
Space.com,
23 Jan. 2026
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And there are no effects, there are no imaginary monsters.—
Victoria Edel,
PEOPLE,
19 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Since then, fans have been looking for more ways to dive into their obsession over the love story between fictional hockey stars Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov.—
Abby Hamblin,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
23 Jan. 2026
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Baron Cohen’s portrayal of Borat, a fictional journalist from the former Soviet state, plays into stereotypes held by Westerners about the central Asian country while satirizing the United States, where Borat tries to trick politicians and others into compromising themselves.—
Reuters,
NBC news,
23 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Coogler's Jim Crow-era film -- the rare horror movie to win the academy's favor -- conjures a mythical allegory of Black life.—
JAKE COYLE THE ASSOCIATED PRESS,
Arkansas Online,
23 Jan. 2026
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Coogler’s Jim Crow-era film — the rare horror movie to win the academy’s favor — conjures a mythical allegory of Black life.—
Jake Coyle,
Chicago Tribune,
22 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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The state has lost track of roughly 30,000 children believed to be receiving vouchers, but the state already knows that some fraudulent organizations created fictitious students and claimed vouchers in their name.—
Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board,
The Orlando Sentinel,
23 Jan. 2026
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The film opens with an introduction to Ministry of Not Forgetting, a fictitious research facility where Tilda Swinton and George MacKay are seen opening an inquiry into Faithfull’s life and career.—
Chris Gardner,
HollywoodReporter,
22 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Peter [Merry] likes to use is that, when a caterpillar is becoming a butterfly, new ‘imaginal cells’ emerge.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
7 Aug. 2025
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With one technique, for example—called imaginal exposure—you might be asked to visualize the process of going to the airport, boarding the plane, and experiencing a bad bout of turbulence.—
Angela Haupt,
TIME,
10 May 2024
Adjective
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Del Col’s imagined protagonist is Pierre, a French bakery assistant who learns Hitler is his biological father.—
Rosemary Counter,
Vanity Fair,
19 Jan. 2026
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Taken together, the books on this list show narrators real and imagined grappling with some of life’s greatest challenges, and nevertheless surviving—as timely and valuable a message as readers can ask for.—
Lucy Feldman,
Time,
9 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Phantasmal.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/phantasmal. Accessed 29 Jan. 2026.
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