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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Footnotes and excerpts from imaginary texts add to the story’s worldbuilding and its charm.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
1 May 2026
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The takeaway isn’t that morning anxiety is imaginary.—
Allison Palmer,
Charlotte Observer,
30 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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That is the unhinged (complimentary) premise of Thomas Elrod’s debut, in which the fictional cult-classic epic fantasy Malicarn series is staged on an island with unwitting actors temporarily imprinted with the characters’ backstories.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
1 May 2026
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Midtown office buildings One of the most recognizable locations in the film is 1221 Avenue of the Americas, a 51-story tower in Midtown Manhattan that served as the exterior for the fictional Runway magazine headquarters in the original 2006 film.—
Kelly McGreal , Khloe Quill,
FOXNews.com,
1 May 2026
Adjective
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But there's also race history, manifested in fandom by Secretariat, the almost mythical champion racehorse known as Big Red who ruled the tracks in the mid-1970s.—
Javier Zarracina,
USA Today,
1 May 2026
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In Phantom Combatants, Tontey transforms Karamoy from a singular historical figure into a mythic presence multiplied through a chorus of young troops, according to a press release.—
Harrison Jacobs,
ARTnews.com,
29 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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First, Jones submitted fraudulent expense reimbursement requests for fictitious business expenses.—
Irene Wright,
USA Today,
30 Apr. 2026
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Investigators say the monthly payroll expenses and the number of employees were fictitious and that the documents used to support the monthly income for the companies were false.—
Joseph Buczek,
CBS News,
27 Apr. 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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Then, a shift to the imagined world.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
29 Apr. 2026
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But, this specific adaptation could be equally advantaged by presenting an imagined hell within our lesser, present one.—
Alison Foreman,
IndieWire,
28 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Phantasmal.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/phantasmal. Accessed 9 May. 2026.
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