variants
also fantasm
1
as in illusion
a conception or image created by the imagination and having no objective reality
frightened by the phantasms of his own making
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in apparition
the soul of a dead person thought of especially as appearing to living people
believed that she'd seen the phantasm of her father on the anniversary of his death
Synonyms & Similar Words
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 phantasm
But eventually, the duo turned the phantasm into solid logic.
—
Quanta Magazine, 15 July 2021
Southern lawmakers baselessly claimed Black men were lynched for raping White women -- a phantasm that still haunts Black men -- and asserted laws governing lynchings were best left to the states.
—Eliott C. McLaughlin, CNN, 27 May 2021
The album, produced by pop artisan Greg Kurstin (Adele, Paul McCartney), is a conceptual rumination on these apocalyptic times, from war to salvation with a sprinkle of biblical phantasm.
—Steven J. Horowitz, EW.com, 15 Apr. 2021
That the nocturnal ritual fantasy is no fantasy, that every phantasm is a sign.
—Talia Lavin, The New Republic, 29 Sep. 2020
See All Example Sentences for phantasm
Quanta Magazine, 15 July 2021
Southern lawmakers baselessly claimed Black men were lynched for raping White women -- a phantasm that still haunts Black men -- and asserted laws governing lynchings were best left to the states.
—Eliott C. McLaughlin, CNN, 27 May 2021
The album, produced by pop artisan Greg Kurstin (Adele, Paul McCartney), is a conceptual rumination on these apocalyptic times, from war to salvation with a sprinkle of biblical phantasm.
—Steven J. Horowitz, EW.com, 15 Apr. 2021
That the nocturnal ritual fantasy is no fantasy, that every phantasm is a sign.
—Talia Lavin, The New Republic, 29 Sep. 2020
See All Example Sentences for phantasm
Recent Examples of Synonyms for phantasm
Noun
-
This city will never be the same, insofar as our sense of safety, our illusions of permanence and so on, are gone.—
Lorraine Berry,
Los Angeles Times,
21 Apr. 2025
-
Mat previously impressed judges on America’s Got Talent in 2014 with his magic, illusions and card tricks.—
Brian Anthony Hernandez,
People.com,
20 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
For much of its history, the Church has had to defend itself against accusations that levitations, apparitions, and other miracles were not the work of God but that of the devil.—
Emily Harnett,
Harpers Magazine,
28 Mar. 2025
-
Todd, the neighbor, even the strange apparitions are obfuscated simply because of their height, which adds to the eerieness of Indy’s experience but also makes Indy’s recognition of Todd’s voice all the more emotional.—
Rafael Motamayor,
IndieWire,
10 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
Big advances in artificial intelligence have renewed some scientists’ dream of eventually understanding what dolphins are saying.—
Melissa Hobson,
Scientific American,
14 Apr. 2025
-
Photo: Luca Strano A dream, perhaps, but one that became reality through a lot of hard work.—
Liam Hess,
Vogue,
14 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
His voice is the ghost in the machine, a strangely humane presence amid all the urban-industrial pastoral.—
Rob Sheffield,
Rolling Stone,
25 Apr. 2025
-
In the epic fifth and final season, Joe Goldberg returns to New York to enjoy his happily ever after… until his perfect life is threatened by the ghosts of his past and his own dark desires.—
Proma Khosla,
IndieWire,
23 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
Fans have bought into the vision of multiple general managers and the potential of a long list of high draft picks.—
Matthew Fairburn,
New York Times,
19 Apr. 2025
-
Though these creators share a state in common, their perspectives are vastly different, informed by their international backgrounds, personal history, creative vision and varying media.—
Patrick Connolly,
The Orlando Sentinel,
18 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
Sony’s 360 Spatial Sound Mapping algorithm, which can create a phantom 5.1.4 system or higher from just four speakers, inspired vivid sonic immersion.—
Ryan Waniata,
Wired News,
2 Apr. 2025
-
To combat such phantoms, Georgian Dream has passed new legislation that criminalizes assembly and protest.—
Anastasiya Zavyalova,
The Conversation,
28 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
Some might suggest that these delusions of grandeur are designed to tranquilize the nervous masses; regardless, the public obviously craves them.—
Lauren Stienstra,
Time,
17 Apr. 2025
-
Researchers noted the positive effects of ecstatic epilepsy and synthesized fifty-three theoretical models of delusion.—
Rafil Kroll-Zaidi,
Harpers Magazine,
17 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
All those books teaching parents how to take care of their children—the first year, the first eighteen months, the first five or ten years—none of them addresses this difficulty: for parents and for children, the border between reality and unreality is not always clearly marked.—
Yiyun Li,
The New Yorker,
23 Mar. 2025
-
As the novel progresses, this sense of unreality sharpens.—
Jordan Kisner,
The Atlantic,
4 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Phantasm.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/phantasm. Accessed 29 Apr. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share