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
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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
Examples Sentences
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Recent Examples of phantasm
The phantasm jeers at me in this lecture theatre.
—
Tega Oghenechovwen, Longreads, 10 Aug. 2020
There, like enormous catcher’s mitts, the detectors lie in wait for extremely rare collisions between one of these lumbering phantasms and an ordinary atom.
—Rachel Courtland, IEEE Spectrum, 1 May 2014
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
See all Example Sentences for phantasm 
Tega Oghenechovwen, Longreads, 10 Aug. 2020
There, like enormous catcher’s mitts, the detectors lie in wait for extremely rare collisions between one of these lumbering phantasms and an ordinary atom.
—Rachel Courtland, IEEE Spectrum, 1 May 2014
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
See all Example Sentences for phantasm
Recent Examples of Synonyms for phantasm
Noun
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With an incoming administration likely to stall or roll back green initiatives, now was the time to double down on renewable solutions, not to hedge bets on fossil fuel stopgaps that offer, at best, an illusion of progress.Andrew Leahey, Forbes, 15 Jan. 2025
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There will be no room for illusions with the influence of taskmaster Saturn, so focus on your accountability.Valerie Mesa, People.com, 10 Jan. 2025
Noun
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There have been no sightings, no fleeting apparitions.David Ornstein, The Athletic, 6 Jan. 2025
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Harker’s lonely investigations are often interrupted by jump scares courtesy of dark apparitions with the silhouettes of nesting dolls.Beatrice Loayza, Vulture, 12 July 2024
Noun
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Fall asleep and dream about being slowly forced, as if by some mechanized peristalsis, through the digestive tract of a huge synthetic worm that then deposits me into a lightless industrial kitchen.Jay Katsir, The New Yorker, 9 Jan. 2025
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Mercurial, vengeful and fixated on forming a safe space for Mormons, Brigham Young stops at nothing to see his dream realized.Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 9 Jan. 2025
Noun
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There will be more hiking through desolate, wide-open spaces, more ghosts, and, of course, more unhinged metamodern storytelling.Lewis Gordon, Vulture, 8 Jan. 2025
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Located on a former plantation, there are stories about the ghosts of enslaved people frequenting the area around the oak, contributing to its spiritual atmosphere.Jessica Farthing, Southern Living, 2 Jan. 2025
Noun
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California Wildfire Live Updates: Strong Winds Expected Today—Death Toll Reaches 16 Strategic vision is key to Day’s approach.Cheryl Robinson, Forbes, 12 Jan. 2025
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Within a year, hardly a... Clarence Page: Jimmy Carter’s funeral brought a rare and much-needed vision of peace Edward Keegan: Has Donald Trump given up his interest in architecture?Armando L. Sanchez, Chicago Tribune, 12 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Listen to this article San Diego Symphony organ curator Bob Knight will never be mistaken for the phantom of the opera.George Varga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 5 Jan. 2025
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This character is essentially a phantom to you until the very end of Elden Ring.Ashley Bardhan, Vulture, 17 June 2024
Noun
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As Sara’s delusions start to involve the game show’s host and live studio audience on TV start to mock her, her refrigarator also comes alive and attacks her.Chris O'Falt, IndieWire, 14 Jan. 2025
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Yet everything that goes up must come down, and hubris is one of the major symptoms of delusions of grandeur.Agustino Fontevecchia, Forbes, 14 Jan. 2025
Noun
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There was a woozy unreality about that first glimpse.Peter Ross, Smithsonian Magazine, 8 Jan. 2025
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Schwarzenegger’s hand getting enmeshed in the T-1000’s liquid skull emphasizes unreality, yet every time a Terminator throws the other against another machine, it’s done with the strength of human force.Vikram Murthi, Vulture, 4 Mar. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near phantasm
Cite this Entry
“Phantasm.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/phantasm. Accessed 20 Jan. 2025.
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