fanciful
adjective
F. D. Roosevelt 
Synonyms
- absurd
- bizarre
- crazy
- fantastic
- fantastical
- foolish
- insane
- nonsensical
- preposterous
- unreal
- wild
Example Sentences
The Editorial Board, WSJ, 28 July 2022 What Sondheim was after was a quest story, something fun and fanciful. Alexandra Schwartz, The New Yorker, 1 Aug. 2022 James Beard Award nominee Ravi DeRossi, has landed in a delightfully overgrown and fanciful section of Melrose Avenue. Evan Nicole Brown, The Hollywood Reporter, 29 July 2022 But that’s not to say Deux Chats (English translation: Two Cats) is overtly fanciful or Francophile. Elise Taylor, Vogue, 28 July 2022 Especially since the photos released by the brand suggest the car is more than just a fanciful concept. Bryan Hood, Robb Report, 27 Apr. 2022 The costumes define groups of dancers in five eye-popping colors and the choreography includes a series of fanciful but athletic pas de trois, which is a dance with three people. San Diego Union-Tribune, 18 Mar. 2022 Despite Hungary’s grim history of its own with Moscow — the crushing of its 1956 revolution with Soviet tanks in the streets — such fears seem fanciful to many supporters of the prime minister. Laura Kingstaff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 9 Apr. 2022 And while this may seem fanciful given the camera bump on the iPhone today, rumor has it that the bump will be significantly reduced on the upcoming iPhone 14. Yoni Heisler, BGR, 11 Feb. 2022 See More Word History
fancy entry 2 + -ful entry 1
circa 1627, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Kids Definition
fanciful
adjective
fanciful
adjective
Synonyms & Similar Words
- bizarre
- absurd
- foolish
- unreal
- insane
- fantastical
- crazy
- strange
- nonsensical
- preposterous
- fantastic
- ridiculous
- wild
- grotesque
- curious
- incredible
- implausible
- peculiar
- weird
- odd
- funny
- extravagant
- eccentric
- inconceivable
- unbelievable
- outlandish
- quirky
- ludicrous
- off the wall
- outré
- unimaginable
- wacky
- quaint
- unthinkable
- surreal
- farcical
- kooky
- laughable
- whacky
- dreamlike
- nightmarish
- bizarro
- kinky
- screwy
- queer
- far-out
- way-out
- kookie
- queerish
- Alice-in-Wonderland
- out-of-the-way
- Kafkaesque
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- reasonable
- realistic
Synonyms & Similar Words
- fictitious
- imaginary
- mythical
- fictional
- mythic
- fantastical
- fantasied
- imagined
- chimerical
- ideal
- imaginal
- unreal
- invented
- phantasmal
- phantom
- theoretical
- fantastic
- made-up
- phantasmic
- notional
- visionary
- romantic
- fabulous
- make-believe
- pretend
- unlikely
- legendary
- hypothetical
- chimeric
- theoretic
- abstract
- unconvincing
- deceptive
- unbelievable
- fabled
- delusive
- illusory
- hallucinatory
- phantasmagoric
- delusional
- conceived
- envisioned
- fictive
- visualized
- concocted
- phantasmagorical
- envisaged
- pictured
- fabricated
- nonexistent
- daydreamlike
- feigned
- inexistent
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- real
- actual
- true
- existing
- authentic
- factual
- genuine
- realistic
- existent
- convincing
- believable
- verifiable
- substantial
- physical
- solid
- tangible
- corporeal
- material
- palpable
- verified
Synonym Chooser
Some common synonyms of fanciful are chimerical, fantastic, imaginary, quixotic, and visionary. While all these words mean "unreal or unbelievable," fanciful suggests the free play of the imagination.
Chimerical combines the implication of visionary and fantastic.
The meanings of fantastic and fanciful largely overlap; however, fantastic implies incredibility or strangeness beyond belief.
The synonyms imaginary and fanciful are sometimes interchangeable, but imaginary applies to something which is fictitious and purely the product of one's imagination.
The words quixotic and fanciful are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, quixotic implies a devotion to romantic or chivalrous ideals unrestrained by ordinary prudence and common sense.
The words visionary and fanciful can be used in similar contexts, but visionary stresses impracticality or incapability of realization.