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fantasy.

That which comes from one's imagination or the act of imagining things.

7 characters3 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈfæntəsi//ˈfæntəzi/[ˈfæ̃ɾ̃əsi]General-American[ˈfænəsi]General-American
  1. That which comes from one's imagination or the act of imagining things.

    countable · uncountable
  2. The literary genre generally dealing with themes of magic and the supernatural, imaginary worlds and creatures, etc.

    countable · uncountable
  3. A fantastical design.

    countable · uncountable
  4. The drug gamma-hydroxybutyric acid.

    countable · slang · uncountable
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- Proto-Indo-European *-né- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *bʰh₂nyéti Proto-Hellenic *pʰáňňō Ancient Greek φαίνω (phaínō) Ancient Greek φαντάζω (phantázō) Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Hellenic *-tis Ancient Greek -τῐς (-tĭs) Ancient Greek -σις (-sis) Ancient Greek φᾰ́ντᾰσῐς (phắntăsĭs) Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-i-eh₂ Proto-Hellenic *-íā Ancient Greek -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā) Ancient Greek φαντασία (phantasía)bor. Latin phantasia Old French fantasiebor. Middle English fantasie English fantasy Noun inherited from Middle English fantasie, from Old French fantasie (“fantasy”), from Latin phantasia (“imagination”), from Ancient Greek φαντασία (phantasía, “apparition”), from φαντάζω (phantázō, “to render visible”), from φαντός (phantós, “visible”), from φαίνω (phaínō, “to make visible”); from the same root as φάος (pháos, “light”); ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰh₂nyéti, from the root *bʰeh₂- (“to shine”). Doublet of fancy, fantasia, phantasia, and phantasy. Verb from Middle English fantasien, from Old French fantasier. Doublet of fancy.

verb/ˈfæntəsi//ˈfæntəzi/[ˈfæ̃ɾ̃əsi]General-American[ˈfænəsi]General-American
  1. To conceive (something) mentally; to imagine.

    transitive
  2. To fantasize about (something).

    literary · transitive
  3. To conceive mentally; to imagine.

    intransitive
  4. To have a fancy for; to be pleased with; to like.

    intransitive · obsolete
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- Proto-Indo-European *-né- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *bʰh₂nyéti Proto-Hellenic *pʰáňňō Ancient Greek φαίνω (phaínō) Ancient Greek φαντάζω (phantázō) Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Hellenic *-tis Ancient Greek -τῐς (-tĭs) Ancient Greek -σις (-sis) Ancient Greek φᾰ́ντᾰσῐς (phắntăsĭs) Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-i-eh₂ Proto-Hellenic *-íā Ancient Greek -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā) Ancient Greek φαντασία (phantasía)bor. Latin phantasia Old French fantasiebor. Middle English fantasie English fantasy Noun inherited from Middle English fantasie, from Old French fantasie (“fantasy”), from Latin phantasia (“imagination”), from Ancient Greek φαντασία (phantasía, “apparition”), from φαντάζω (phantázō, “to render visible”), from φαντός (phantós, “visible”), from φαίνω (phaínō, “to make visible”); from the same root as φάος (pháos, “light”); ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰh₂nyéti, from the root *bʰeh₂- (“to shine”). Doublet of fancy, fantasia, phantasia, and phantasy. Verb from Middle English fantasien, from Old French fantasier. Doublet of fancy.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.