fantasy
Definitions
An imagined scene or situation, especially a pleasant or unlikely one
幻想，想象（尤指美好或不切实际的）
A genre of fiction featuring magic and the supernatural
奇幻文学（含魔法与超自然元素的体裁）
Root Breakdown
Root-derivedFrom Greek phantasia 'a making visible, an appearance,' built on phainein (appear). A fantasy is an image made to *appear before the mind's eye* — something you see internally that isn't physically there. The ph- of the Greek root became f- on its path through Latin and French.
Root phas still carries 13 more wordsWhy It Means This
The link to phantom is hidden by spelling: both are the same Greek 'appear' root, but phantom kept its ph- while fantasy softened to f-. The word fancy is fantasy worn shorter by centuries of casual speech — same origin, contracted form.
Common Collocations
- 1.fantasy world幻想世界
- 2.fantasy novel奇幻小说
- 3.live in a fantasy活在幻想中
- 4.pure fantasy纯属幻想
- 5.fantasy football梦幻足球（游戏）
Example Sentences
- 1.
He lives in a fantasy where money solves everything.
- 2.
She loves fantasy novels full of dragons and wizards.
- 3.
Winning the lottery is a common childhood fantasy.
Easily Confused
fantasy vs imagination — imagination is the mental faculty (the power to form images); fantasy is a product of it, usually a specific scene, and often unrealistic or wishful. You use your imagination to create a fantasy.