Chimerical

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /kɪˈmɛɹɪkəl/

Definitions

1. Describing a concept that is purely imaginative and unreal, often forming a mixture of various unrelated elements into a singular thought
2. Pertaining to an illusion or fantasy that combines disparate ideas or forms, creating a strikingly imaginative but unattainable vision
3. Characterizing something as wildly fanciful or imaginative, often blending various unrelated components into an unrealized notion

Etymology: The Greek word "khímaira" originally meant "she-goat," and it was the name of a fire-breathing monster in Greek myth: a creature with a lion's head, a goat's body, and a serpent's tail. Its name was later applied to any wild fancy or impossible hope, so the monster became a symbol of things that exist only in the imagination. From that sense, English gained "chimera" around 1638, and the adjective "chimerical" grew from it, meaning unreal and imaginative. The adjective is simply the noun "chimera" with the common "-ical" ending, which turns a noun into a description. So a chimerical plan is one built on fantasy rather than on anything solid, and the adjective carries the monster's old role as a thing that cannot really be.

Synonyms: fantastical, illusory

Antonyms: realistic