A figment is something formed from imaginary elements. Daydreams are figments; nightmares are figments that can seem very real. Most figments are everyday fears and hopes about small things that turn out to be imaginary. But when the radio play "The War of the Worlds" aired in 1938, it caused a panic among thousands of people who didn't realize the Martian invasion was just a figment of the author's imagination.
unable to find any tracks in the snow the next morning, I was forced to conclude that the shadowy figure had been a figment of my imagination
thus far, the invisible human being has been nothing more than a figment of fantasy writers
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Making matters worse is the fact that her traumas manifest in the shape of her deceased best friend Zoe (Morales) who often shows up as a figment of her imagination.—Destiny Jackson, Deadline, 28 Feb. 2025 And with great fondness for Firth, who turns up as a wistful figment in a handful of scenes, this tragedy is the best thing that could have happened to the franchise.—Alison Willmore, Vulture, 12 Feb. 2025 The hallmark of The True Beauty of Being Bitten by a Tick is the sense of dread that mounts while Yvonne grows more and more susceptible to a figment of utopia built on wellness pseudoscience.—Matthew Jacobs, Vulture, 18 Mar. 2025 Making matters worse is the fact that her traumas manifest in the shape of her deceased best friend Zoe (Morales) who often shows up as a figment of her imagination.—Destiny Jackson, Deadline, 28 Feb. 2025 See All Example Sentences for figment
Word History
Etymology
Middle English, "fable, deceitful practice," borrowed from Latin figmentum "thing formed, image, invention," from fig-, variant stem of fingere "to mold, fashion, make a likeness of, pretend to be" + -mentum-ment — more at feign
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