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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Locate the two uppermost stars — Merak and Dubhe — and draw an imaginary line from the former through the latter and out into space.—
Anthony Wood,
Space.com,
17 Feb. 2026
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He's answered each with an instantly recognizable theme that helped cement these imaginary places in our brains.—
Alex Galbraith,
Entertainment Weekly,
15 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Terms & Conditions interweaves fictional and historical characters in an immersive story that spans 247 years across land and sea.—
Zac Ntim,
Deadline,
20 Feb. 2026
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Lawrence, who serves as executive producer on the new incarnation, can also see a parallel between his path and that of his fictional creations.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
20 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Today’s longevity-medicine movement is driven by the same aggressive desire for eternal youth as the mythic stories of old.—
Will Gottsegen,
The Atlantic,
20 Feb. 2026
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Rarely do these pieces directly echo the two men’s interpersonal drama, but the information adds context to the actors’ enchanting movements, which are backed by gorgeous outfits and striking set design that accentuate the mythical tales being played out.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
20 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Who wants to sit through a fictitious novelist’s clumsy drafts?—
Theater Critic,
Los Angeles Times,
14 Feb. 2026
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The committee requested that information after a congressional watchdog found last December that the enhanced premium tax credits were vulnerable to fraud, with auditors successfully obtaining subsidized coverage for multiple ‘fictitious’ applicants.—
Sophie Brams,
The Hill,
10 Feb. 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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Both are beatless, widescreen, and almost formless, little soundtracks to an imagined world in bloom.—
Alex Robert Ross,
Pitchfork,
13 Feb. 2026
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They’d been drawn by the pay, but also by a sense of altruism and imagined kinship.—
Ava Kofman,
New Yorker,
9 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Phantasmal.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/phantasmal. Accessed 27 Feb. 2026.
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