phantasmic

adjective

Definition of phantasmicnext
as in imaginary
not real and existing only in the imagination had spent a restless night during which he was visited by a series of phantasmic figures

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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 phantasmic Standing to the right, the viewer perceives this phantasmic figure underneath their reflection, a disturbing Other, a double. — James Meyer, Artforum, 1 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for phantasmic
  1. imaginary
  2. mythical
  3. fictional
  4. fictitious
  5. imaginal
  6. imagined
Adjective
  • What matters most is being comfortably inside the path and away from the hard edges, not standing on an imaginary line drawn through its middle.
    — Jamie Carter, Space.com, 3 Oct. 2026
  • Each nutty denunciation of his imaginary tormentors includes a plea for a presidential pardon.
    — Kevin Rennie, Hartford Courant, 3 Oct. 2026
Definition of imaginary
Adjective
  • Jennifer De Angelo Baxter sculpted green snake heads and a headpiece out of foam, aluminum foil and cardboard to conjure the mythical Greek monster Medusa.
    — Dana Hedgpeth, Washington Post, 6 Oct. 2026
  • This coincidental trait inspired researchers to name the new genus Herugavialis after Heru, or Horus, the Egyptian god associated with the construction of the mythical creature.
    — Taylor Nicioli, CNN Money, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of mythical
Adjective
  • Set in a small fictional town called Awatahi, the show explores the murder of 17-year-old Jodie Hunter.
    — Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 8 Oct. 2026
  • People have since replaced the imp with fictional people like Sam and Dean Winchester and Wednesday Addams, public figures like Gypsy-Rose Blanchard and even mascots like Ronald McDonald.
    — Angela Yang, NBC news, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of fictional
Adjective
  • The Swiss manufacturer has just unveiled a new lineup of Seamaster Diver 300Ms inspired by James Bond and Spectre, the fictitious crime org seen in the 007 flicks.
    — Nicole Hoey, Robb Report, 5 Oct. 2026
  • The Russian security service’s Meliorator tool has been used to create over a thousand profiles of fictitious Americans, primarily on X (formerly Twitter), to spread Kremlin narratives at a fraction of the cost of human troll farms.
    — Seva Gunitsky, Foreign Affairs, 1 Oct. 2026
Definition of fictitious
Adjective
  • 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
  • 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
Definition of imaginal
Adjective
  • The production was full of nostalgia for an imagined past when the small screen was more ascendant and apolitical, with tributes to Charlie’s Angels and Dolly Parton shirking any embrace of the form’s progressive history.
    — Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 15 Sep. 2026
  • The summer before, so many Black men and Black children and Black women had been murdered for the most meager of real or imagined offenses.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 8 Sep. 2026
Definition of imagined

Browse Nearby Words

phantasmal
phantasmic
phantasms
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Phantasmic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/phantasmic. Accessed 11 Oct. 2026.

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