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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Other ideas involve arts and crafts projects, or playing imaginary games with her 8-year-old sister.—
Rhitu Chatterjee,
NPR,
19 June 2026
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The Vision Award pays tribute to someone whose creative work has contributed to the renewal of the cinematographic imaginary.—
Georg Szalai,
HollywoodReporter,
18 June 2026
Adjective
-
The mural that wraps around the room depicts the colorful life of the bar’s namesake, Arabella Huntington, the second wife of railroad magnate Collis Potter Huntington, and the cocktails in the drinks menu are playfully written as fictional entries in Arabella’s diary.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
19 June 2026
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In the show, the fictional version of Harrelson goes to stay at McConaughey's ranch in Austin, but things spiral out of control after McConaughey's mom, played by Holland Taylor, lets their possible familial connection slip.—
Brendan Morrow,
USA Today,
18 June 2026
Adjective
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The businesses that will win with AI aren’t waiting for a mythical moment when the technology handles everything.—
Tomas Gorny,
Forbes.com,
18 June 2026
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So, why does the 18-year-old, who wears that mythical number for Barcelona — most closely associated with their all-time record scorer and appearance maker Messi — not have the same privilege with La Roja?—
Pol Ballús,
New York Times,
17 June 2026
Adjective
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In 1811, The Nottingham Review newspaper recorded what's believed to be the first historical mention of the fictitious Ludd character, described as a framework knitting apprentice near Leicester.—
Emma Bowman,
NPR,
19 June 2026
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Chen, who is currently being held on $100,000 bail in the Clark County Detention Center, has been charged with five felony counts of bigamy and two counts of intent to utter a fictitious bill/note/check, per FOX5.—
Desiree Anello,
PEOPLE,
16 June 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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The humanities will survive not by defending an imagined past of disinterested purity, but by demonstrating their necessity in a fractured republic.—
The Atlantic,
The Atlantic,
16 June 2026
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That is, real, not merely illusory, measures, so that the allure to breach peace for imagined gains is overshadowed.—
Keith Tidman,
Baltimore Sun,
15 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Phantasmal.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/phantasmal. Accessed 23 Jun. 2026.
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