Definitions

fanciful

[fan-si-fuhl] / ˈfæn sɪ fəl /

ADJECTIVE

imaginary, romantic

Synonyms

STRONGEST

absurd bizarre extravagant fantastic fantastical fictional imaginative offbeat preposterous unreal whimsical

WEAK

aerial blue-sky capricious castles in the air chimerical curious dreamlike fabulous fairy-tale fancied fictitious fictive flaky floating ideal illusory imagined incredible kinky legendary mythical notional on cloud nine pie in the sky pipe dream poetic shadowy suppositious visionary wild

Antonyms

STRONGEST

normal reasonable sensible usual

WEAK

grave ordinary real serious sincere unfanciful unimaginative unromantic

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

All A.I. systems today are built around neural networks, which, despite their fanciful name, are just math formulas.

From Slate • May 25, 2026

Being back at Disney, Dudamel admits, is very emotional, especially conducting “Walküre” with Gehry’s sets of billowy, sumptuous clouds and fanciful white papery horses.

From Los Angeles Times • May 19, 2026

Begovic's defiant words about relegation could be interpreted as fanciful for a side that could have relegation confirmed in four of the next five days.

From BBC • Apr. 20, 2026

An industry colleague recently admitted that while she was appalled by Ms. Owens’s fanciful claims, she kept tuning in for the next installment of “crazy.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 26, 2026

Never, not in her most fanciful dreams, had she imagined that the opportunity to speak with Dorian Havilliard would arise.

From "Throne of Glass" by Sarah J. Maas

Vocabulary lists containing fanciful

The New SAT: Words to Capture Tone

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The SAT: Words to Capture Tone, List 6

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30 GRE Words Beginning with "E" and "F"

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