1
as in bizarre
conceived or made without regard for reason or reality
she harbors the fanciful notion that she has a talent for singing
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in imaginary
not real and existing only in the imagination
the fanciful creatures that J.R.R. Tolkien created for his Middle Earth novels
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Recent Examples of fanciful
For those in search of a better sleep solution that still has personality, Anthropologie offers a number of blackout curtains in fanciful patterns and prints.
—
Kelly Dawson, Architectural Digest, 6 Feb. 2026
The choices range from practical to fanciful — add-ons such as hamburger wings and disco balls.
—Dewayne Bevil, The Orlando Sentinel, 4 Feb. 2026
The dissident German contingent published their impressions of the Situationist conference in their own journal, SPUR, a much more fanciful tale than the serious French account.
—Hari Kunzru, Harpers Magazine, 27 Jan. 2026
The Cotton Exchange has fanciful touches on the exterior, including faux columns and balustrades, and a fountain at the front of the building, dominated by a gryphon, a mythic creature that is part lion, part eagle.
—Jim Halley, AJC.com, 27 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for fanciful
Kelly Dawson, Architectural Digest, 6 Feb. 2026
The choices range from practical to fanciful — add-ons such as hamburger wings and disco balls.
—Dewayne Bevil, The Orlando Sentinel, 4 Feb. 2026
The dissident German contingent published their impressions of the Situationist conference in their own journal, SPUR, a much more fanciful tale than the serious French account.
—Hari Kunzru, Harpers Magazine, 27 Jan. 2026
The Cotton Exchange has fanciful touches on the exterior, including faux columns and balustrades, and a fountain at the front of the building, dominated by a gryphon, a mythic creature that is part lion, part eagle.
—Jim Halley, AJC.com, 27 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for fanciful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fanciful
Adjective
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Having stabilized his ship in orbit around the black hole, Dr Hans Reinhardt (a bizarre, OTT performance from Maximilian Schell) now plans to fly into it, assisted by an unquestioning crew of automatons with a very dark origin story.—
Richard Edwards,
Space.com,
8 Feb. 2026
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That's bizarre to me, especially those two.—
Dalton Ross,
Entertainment Weekly,
8 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Finally, the researchers did another version of the original test but used imaginary grapes instead of juice, with similar results.—
Evan Bush,
NBC news,
5 Feb. 2026
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Unfortunately, the new love in your life may be imaginary and only after your bank account.—
C. A. Bridges,
Florida Times-Union,
4 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Straight men, in particular, are only talked about, kept in the background, or appearing as authority figures trying to uphold absurd laws and traditions.—
Murtada Elfadl,
Variety,
13 Feb. 2026
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Pepsi’s chart is absurd and someone’s going to look stupid when the momentum fades.—
Josh Brown,Sean Russo,
CNBC,
9 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Comulate also invented a fictitious insurance agent named Jordan Bates, who purported to work for PBC and who interacted with Applied Systems salespeople through email (with a Phoenix Benefits email domain) to create a customer account on Applied’s Epic.—
John Hyatt,
Forbes.com,
30 Jan. 2026
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In a comparable case in the United States in 2023, a federal judge imposed $5,000 fines on two lawyers and a law firm after ChatGPT was blamed for their submission of fictitious legal research in an aviation injury claim.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
27 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Counting on one of the league’s most expensive talents to play meaningful minutes from here on out at his age with a track record like that is nearly as foolish as Nico trading a perennial MVP candidate at 26.—
Kevin Sherrington
Feb. 4,
Dallas Morning News,
4 Feb. 2026
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The lesson isn’t that NBA teams are reckless or foolish.—
Spencer Harrison,
New York Times,
1 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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The difference between documentary approaches and fictional approaches to a musical figure — at heart, there’s no difference at all.—
Daniel D'Addario,
Variety,
13 Feb. 2026
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But in a first for Marvel, Abdul-Mateen II was not there as himself, but rather in character as Simon Williams to discuss the fictional Wonder Man movie that is central to season one of the Disney+ show.—
Aaron Couch,
HollywoodReporter,
13 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Getting to play Survivor once is a dream, getting to play twice and on a monumental anniversary season is unreal.—
Dalton Ross,
Entertainment Weekly,
28 Jan. 2026
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The pressure King felt was unreal.—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
28 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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The series follows a teenage boy who forms an unlikely alliance with the Fairy Queen of Celtic lore to search for malevolent mythical creatures from around the world, among them the Yeti, Baba Yaga and a Lady Dracula — not to destroy them, but to save them from impending doom.—
Ed Meza,
Variety,
13 Feb. 2026
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Jones portrays the fierce warrior Prince Vlad of Wallachia, who goes on to become the mythical Dracula.—
Hanna Wickes,
Kansas City Star,
13 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Fanciful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fanciful. Accessed 14 Feb. 2026.
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