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.

It is fanciful, seeing as he has only reached the last 16 of a major for the first time, but not impossible given the men's draw continues to be blown wide open.

From BBC • May 29, 2026

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

From Slate • May 25, 2026

It seems fanciful to bother trying to make sense of events in “Mortal Kombat II.”

From The Wall Street Journal • May 7, 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

“You are fanciful, mon vieux,” said M. Bouc.

From "Murder on the Orient Express" by Agatha Christie

Vocabulary lists containing fanciful

The New SAT: Words to Capture Tone

Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!

The SAT: Words to Capture Tone, List 6

Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!

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

Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!