chimera

Syllables: chi·me·raUK/kaɪˈmɪəɹə//kaɪˈmɪɹə/

chimera noun: any fantastic creature combining parts from different animals. Also the alternative letter-case form of Chimera.

Noun

chimera (plural chimeras)

Any fantastic creature combining parts from different animals.
- A voice had called him forth to think in solitude—a voice he durst not resist, the awful one of the future. It fell on John's heart like the mutter of approaching desolation. He heard it coming on, as the spell-bound in a hideous dream await, wordless and shivering, the progress of some chimera...1853, “the O’Hara Family” [pseudonym; John Banim], chapter XV, in The Nowlans, London: Simms and M‘Intyre, Paternoster Row; and Donegall Street, Belfast, →OCLC, page 142
- The Magophonia was essentially the eruption of a long-simmering animosity between the pārsās (who revered Ahura Mazdā) and the Median magi (who believed in the supremacy of Mithra and Apam Napāt). A vivid expression of this animosity is displayed on the door jambs of Persepolis, where Darius is...2014, Abolala Soudavar, “Appendix II – From the Avesta to Sufi Treatises: A Standard Literary Technique”, in Mithraic Societies: From Brotherhood Ideal to Religion’s Adversary, Houston, Tx.: Abolala...
(figuratively) A foolish, incongruous, or vain thought or product of the imagination.
- In the middle of theſe Cogitations, Apprehenſions, and Reflections, it came into my Thought one day, that all this might be a mere Chimera of my own; and that this Foot might be the Print of my own Foot, when I came on Shore from my Boat: This chear'd me up a little too, and I began to perſuade...1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], →OCLC, page 86
- It was very different, when the masters of the science sought immortality and power; such views, although futile, were grand: but now the scene was changed. The ambition of the inquirer seemed to limit itself to the annihilation of those visions on which my interest in science was chiefly founded....1816 June – 1817 April/May (date written), [Mary Shelley], chapter II, in Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] [Macdonald and Son] for...
(figuratively) Anything composed of very disparate parts.
- He built his car one piece at a time, producing a chimera with the head of a Volkswagen, the body of a Geely, and the tail of an aftermarket Porsche.
- Throughout 12 tracks the ear is treated to a musical chimera where folk frolics and gypsy jaunts fight with klezmeric machinations and Slavic ska to form a brass infused Ottoman folk-punk or it might just be the sound of Bellowhead working as the house band in an Armenian brothel.2016 November 17, Gill Harris, “All about: Running Away with the Circus – Trans-Siberian March Band”, in Swindon Advertiser, England: Newsquest Media Group, →OCLC, archived from the original on 18...
Synonyms:

motley crew
A grotesque like a gargoyle, but without a spout for rainwater.
- A chimera is essentially a hybrid animal made up of various animal parts. The famous parapet chimeras on the north tower of Notre Dame in Paris, especially the brooding double-horned fellow with protruding tongue on the west parapet originally assumed to relate to a thirteenth-century model, are...2016, Thomas A. Fudgé, “Gargoyles and Glimpses of Forgotten Worlds”, in Medieval Religion and Its Anxieties: History and Mystery in the Other Middle Ages (The New Middle Ages), New York, N.Y....
An organism with genetically distinct cells originating from two or more zygotes.
- The DNA test returned a false negative because the killer was a chimera, having absorbed her twin in utero.
- [P]reembryo cells from different parents can combine and grow into a chimera (an individual with cells from two or more zygotes)—in this case, an entity containing genetic material from four parents! Spontaneous chimeras […] occur rarely in our species. Recent examples include a woman who resulted...2014, David A[lan] Grimes, Linda G. Brandon, “Miscarriage: The Healthy Winnowing of Pregnancy”, in Every Third Woman in America: How Legal Abortion Transformed Our Nation, Carolina Beach, N.C....
(figuratively) Synonym of bogeyman: any terrifying thing, especially as an unreal, imagined threat.
- How could that Chymera haue come in any mannes mynd?1587, Philippe de Mornay, translated by Philip Sidney et al., A Woorke Concerning the Trewnesse of the Christian Religion, page 433
- ...full of pale fancies, and chimeras huge...1730, James Thomson, “Autumn”, in The Seasons, page 177
Synonyms:

bogeyman

Proper noun capitalized: Chimera

Chimera

(Greek) A supposed fire-breathing monster in Lycia with the head of a lion, body of a goat, and tail of a dragon or snake, killed by the hero Bellerophon.
- CHIMERA, a fabulous monſter...1771, Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1st ed., Vol. II, p. 184
(Ancient Greece) A fire-spewing mountain in Lycia or Cilicia, presumed to be an ancient name for the Yanartaş region of Turkey's Antalya Province.
- CHIMERA... The foundation of the fable was, that in Lycia there was a burning mountain, or vulcano, of this name; that the top of this mountain was ſeldom without lions, nor the middle, which had very good graſs, without goats; that ſerpents bred at the bottom, which was marſhy; and that...1771, Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1st ed., Vol. II, p. 184
(historical) Former name of Himara, a port town in southern Albania.
- CHIMÆRA, in geography, a port town of Turky in Europe, ſituated at the entrance of the gulph of Venice, in the province of Epirus, about thirty-two miles north of the city Corfu, near which are the mountains of Chimæra, which divide Epirus from Theſſaly...1771, Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1st ed., Vol. II, p. 184
(historical) Former name of Ceraunian Mountains, the Albanian mountain range near Himara.

Also used as

chimera is also the alternative letter-case form of Chimera.

chimera is also the alternative form of chimaera.

chimera meaning in Persian

chimera in Persian

any similarly fantastic creature formed of parts from different animals: شترگاوپلنگ šotor-gâv-palang
organism with genetically distinct cells from two or more zygotes: آمیژه âmiže

Examples of chimera in a sentence

He heard it coming on, as the spell-bound in a hideous dream await, wordless and shivering, the progress of some chimera monster, whose grasp is to crush and destroy.1853, “the O’Hara Family” [pseudonym; John Banim], chapter XV, in The Nowlans, London: Simms and M‘Intyre, Paternoster Row; and Donegall...
A vivid expression of this animosity is displayed on the door jambs of Persepolis, where Darius is killing with a dagger a chimera monster with a scorpion tail.2014, Abolala Soudavar, “Appendix II – From the Avesta to Sufi Treatises: A Standard Literary Technique”, in Mithraic Societies: From...
I was required to exchange chimeras of boundless grandeur for realities of little worth.1816 June – 1817 April/May (date written), [Mary Shelley], chapter II, in Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. […], volume (please...
Although now considered a pseudo-science, the 'Abbasids were also fascinated by alchemy and the chimera of transforming base metals into gold for their treasury.2009, Amira K. Bennison, The Great Caliphs: The Golden Age of the 'Abbasid Empire, Yale University Press, →ISBN, page 159:

Synonyms of chimera

Antonyms

monolith

All synonyms and antonyms of chimera

Forms of chimera

Noun
plural	chimeras
alternative form (archaic)	chimaera
alternative form (archaic)	chimæra
alternative form (obsolete)	chimere
alternative form (obsolete)	chymera
alternative form (obsolete)	chemera
alternative form (obsolete)	chymæra
Proper noun
alternative form	Chimaera
alternative form	chimera

Plural of chimera: chimeras

Origin of chimera

Variant of Middle English chimere, chymere, & chymera under renewed Latin influence from the 16th century, from French chimère, from Latin Chimaera, from Ancient Greek Χίμαιρα (Khímaira, “fire-breathing mythological monster, fire-spewing Lycian or Cilician mountain”), from χίμαιρα (khímaira, “she-goat”, from χίμαρος (khímaros, “male goat”) + -α (-a)), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰey-. In reference to the fish, directly from Latin Chimaera, used by Linnaeus. In reference to organisms with distinct areas of different genetic makeups, a calque of German Chimäre, used by Hans Winkler in 1907.

As the mythological beast, a variant case form of chimera, q.v. As an ancient mountain, directly from Latin mons Chimaera (“Mount Chimera”), from Ancient Greek Χίμαιρα (Khímaira), attested in Strabo.

Words formed from chimera

Questions about chimera

What does chimera mean?: Chimera means any fantastic creature combining parts from different animals.
What is chimera in Persian?: Chimera in Persian is شترگاوپلنگ (šotor-gâv-palang), آمیژه (âmiže). See Chimera meaning in Persian.
How do you use chimera in a sentence?: He heard it coming on, as the spell-bound in a hideous dream await, wordless and shivering, the progress of some chimera monster, whose grasp is to crush and destroy.
What part of speech is chimera?: Chimera can be a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce chimera?: Chimera is pronounced /kaɪˈmɪɹə/ (US).
What is the plural of chimera?: The plural of chimera is chimeras.

Words near chimera in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: chimera (page history and authors); Chimera (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-chimera.ogg, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-Chimera.wav.

Cite this entry: “chimera.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/chimera. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.