phantasmal
Syllables: phan·tasm·al/fænˈtæzml̩//fænˈtæzməl/
phantasmal adjective: of or pertaining to, or having the characteristics of, a phantasm (“something seen but having no physical reality”); imaginary, unreal.
Adjective
phantasmal (comparative more phantasmal, superlative most phantasmal)
- Of or pertaining to, or having the characteristics of, a phantasm (“something seen but having no physical reality”); imaginary, unreal.
- The matter of which dreams are made / Not more endowed with actual life / Than this phantasmal portraiture / Of wandering human thought.1813, Percy Bysshe Shelley, “Canto VII”, in Queen Mab; […], London: […] P. B. Shelley, […], →OCLC, page 98
- Mr. Audley, the chairman, was an amiable, elderly man who still wore Gladstone collars; he was a kind of symbol of all that phantasmal and yet fixed society.1910 October 1, G[ilbert] K[eith] Chesterton, “The Queer Feet”, in The Innocence of Father Brown, London; New York, N.Y.: Cassell and Company, published 1911, →OCLC, page 80
- Synonyms:
- phantasmatic, phantasmatical, phantasmic, phantasmical, phantomatic
- Of or pertaining to, or having the characteristics of, a phantom (“apparition or ghost”); ghostly, spectral.
- Of or pertaining to, or having the characteristics of, a phantasm (“perception or vision of a living or dead person who is not physically present, often through telepathy”).
Examples of phantasmal in a sentence
- He gave them ear only for a time but he was happy only when he was far from them, beyond their call, alone or in the company of phantasmal comrades.1916, James Joyce, chapter II, in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, New York, N.Y.: B[enjamin] W. Huebsch, →OCLC, page 93:
- Her secrets: old feather fans, tassled dancecards, powdered with musk, a gaud of amber beads in her locked drawer. […] Phantasmal mirth, folded away: muskperfumed.1922 February 2, James Joyce, “[Episode 1: Telemachus]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company […], →OCLC, part I [Telemachia], page...
Synonyms of phantasmal
- phantasmatic
- phantasmatical
- phantasmic
- phantasmical
- phantomatic
- apparitional
- ghastly
- ghostish
- ghostlike
- ghostly
6 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of phantasmal
| comparative | more phantasmal |
|---|---|
| superlative | most phantasmal |
| alternative form | fantasmal |
Origin of phantasmal
From phantasm or phantasma (“phantasm”) + -al (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives).
Words formed from phantasmal
Questions about phantasmal
- What does phantasmal mean?
- Phantasmal means of or pertaining to, or having the characteristics of, a phantasm (“something seen but having no physical reality”); imaginary, unreal.
- How do you use phantasmal in a sentence?
- He gave them ear only for a time but he was happy only when he was far from them, beyond their call, alone or in the company of phantasmal comrades.
- What part of speech is phantasmal?
- Phantasmal is an adjective.
- How do you pronounce phantasmal?
- Phantasmal is pronounced /fænˈtæzml̩/ (UK).
Words near phantasmal in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: phantasmal (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.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-phantasmal.wav, En-us-phantasmal.oga.
Cite this entry: “phantasmal.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/phantasmal. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.