fantasy

[fan-tuh-see, -zee] /ˈfæn tə si, -zi/
noun, plural fantasies.
1.
imagination, especially when extravagant and unrestrained.
2.
the forming of mental images, especially wondrous or strange fancies; imaginative conceptualizing.
3.
a mental image, especially when unreal or fantastic; vision:
a nightmare fantasy.
4.
Psychology. an imagined or conjured up sequence fulfilling a psychological need; daydream.
5.
a hallucination.
6.
a supposition based on no solid foundation; visionary idea; illusion:
dreams of Utopias and similar fantasies.
7.
caprice; whim.
8.
an ingenious or fanciful thought, design, or invention.
9.
Also, fantasia. Literature. an imaginative or fanciful work, especially one dealing with supernatural or unnatural events or characters:
The stories of Poe are fantasies of horror.
10.
Music. fantasia (def 1).
verb (used with object), verb (used without object), fantasied, fantasying.
11.
to form mental images; imagine; fantasize.
12.
Rare. to write or play fantasias.
Also, phantasy.
Origin
1275-1325; Middle English fantasie imaginative faculty, mental image (< Anglo-French, Old French) < Latin phantasia < Greek phantasía an idea, notion, image, literally, a making visible; see fantastic, -y3
Related forms
nonfantasy, noun, plural nonfantasies.
Synonyms
1. See fancy.
Examples from the web for fantasy
  • But the way endowments actually work made a naïve fantasy of that simple, heartfelt dream.
  • We, as humans telling stories, need to retain elements of fantasy and imagination.
  • It is equally conceivable that the fantasy-made-reality of human space flight will return to fantasy.
  • Building a pair of dream rosters is the great general-manager fantasy, a test of his skills as an evaluator of talent.
  • Those who tuned in late missed the disclaimer that the program was pure fantasy.
  • While some of the paintings in that exhibition depict the countryside near his home, others are pure fantasy.
  • It may have been more of a fantasy than anything else.
  • Thanks to an unexpected mold outbreak in two residence halls, that far-flung fantasy is about to come true.
  • Today, antigravity research is an all-but-extinct field of study that has devolved into little more than science-fiction fantasy.
  • One must see it to believe it is not some elaborate computer-generated fantasy.
British Dictionary definitions for fantasy

fantasy

/ˈfæntəsɪ/
noun (pl) -sies
1.
  1. imagination unrestricted by reality
  2. (as modifier): a fantasy world
2.
a creation of the imagination, esp a weird or bizarre one
3.
(psychol)
  1. a series of pleasing mental images, usually serving to fulfil a need not gratified in reality
  2. the activity of forming such images
4.
a whimsical or far-fetched notion
5.
an illusion, hallucination, or phantom
6.
a highly elaborate imaginative design or creation
7.
(music) another word for fantasia, fancy (sense 13) (rarely) development (sense 5)
8.
  1. literature having a large fantasy content
  2. a prose or dramatic composition of this type
9.
(modifier) of or relating to a competition, often in a newspaper, in which a participant selects players for an imaginary ideal team, and points are awarded according to the actual performances of the chosen players: fantasy football
verb -sies, -sying, -sied
10.
a less common word for fantasize
Word Origin
C14 fantasie, from Latin phantasia, from Greek phantazein to make visible
Word Origin and History for fantasy
n.

early 14c., "illusory appearance," from Old French fantaisie (14c.) "vision, imagination," from Latin phantasia, from Greek phantasia "appearance, image, perception, imagination," from phantazesthai "picture to oneself," from phantos "visible," from phainesthai "appear," in late Greek "to imagine, have visions," related to phaos, phos "light," phainein "to show, to bring to light" (see phantasm). Sense of "whimsical notion, illusion" is pre-1400, followed by that of "imagination," which is first attested 1530s. Sense of "day-dream based on desires" is from 1926.

fantasy in Medicine

fantasy fan·ta·sy (fān'tə-sē, -zē)
n.
Imagery that is more or less coherent, as in dreams and daydreams, yet unrestricted by reality. Also called phantasia.