as in imaginary
not real and existing only in the imagination
phantasmal fears that have prevented her from living a normal life
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Recent Examples of phantasmal
Beyond that, all apparent structures are merely phantasmal.
—
Big Think, 27 Oct. 2025
Big Think, 27 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for phantasmal
Adjective
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Bartle replied that the two Kansas Cities were really one big city, separated only by an imaginary state line.—
Elijah Winkler,
Kansas City Star,
29 Mar. 2026
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In the Williams-Paisley household, even an imaginary man can cause a marital kerfuffle.—
Bryan West,
USA Today,
25 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Clavicular is like a blend of Dorian Gray and Patrick Bateman, those fictional creations of gay authors out to probe the sinister side of male vanity.—
Spencer Kornhaber,
The Atlantic,
27 Mar. 2026
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The prologue that opens Ragtime loudly announces the musical’s epic ambitions as its nine fictional characters and six of its historical figures introduce themselves with third-person narration and shout-singing.—
Manuel Mendoza,
Dallas Morning News,
27 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Sierra Canyon finished the season 30-1 and is in the conversation for a mythical national championship.—
Tarek Fattal,
Daily News,
26 Mar. 2026
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But Arirang can be frustrating as a collection of sometimes aspirationally simplistic literary concepts from a group with a catalogue of songs brandishing mythic notions and philosophical concepts (sometimes hilariously).—
Craig Jenkins,
Vulture,
24 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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One requires election records to be maintained for 22 months, while the other prohibits procuring, casting or tabulating false, fictitious or fraudulent ballots.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
27 Mar. 2026
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Rogen, who in the show plays fictitious studio head Matt Remick, briefly attended the festival in September to do research.—
Nick Vivarelli,
Variety,
25 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Peter [Merry] likes to use is that, when a caterpillar is becoming a butterfly, new ‘imaginal cells’ emerge.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
7 Aug. 2025
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With one technique, for example—called imaginal exposure—you might be asked to visualize the process of going to the airport, boarding the plane, and experiencing a bad bout of turbulence.—
Angela Haupt,
TIME,
10 May 2024
Adjective
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The title track is simply a recitation of imagined Spotify playlists, and once the joke lands we’re not left with much.—
The Week US,
TheWeek,
25 Mar. 2026
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The campaign, which started in 2024, is part of the zoo's overall goal to fund a world-class aquarium, a larger education center and a re-imagined butterfly garden at the Great Plains Zoo campus.—
Shelly Conlon,
Sioux Falls Argus Leader,
17 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Phantasmal.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/phantasmal. Accessed 4 Apr. 2026.
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