chimerical
adj/kɪˈmɛɹɪkəl/ · /kaɪ-/
Etymology From chimera, from Latin chimaera, from Ancient Greek χίμαιρα (khímaira, “she-goat”). This term entered English in or around 1638.
1
Of or pertaining to a chimera.
2
Being a figment of the imagination; fantastic (in the archaic sense).
- a chimerical goal
- "Yes; I have a turn both for observation and for deduction. The theories which I have expressed there, and which appear to you to be so chimerical, are really extremely practical—so practical that I depend upon them for my bread and cheese."1887, Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet:
1 more example
- With his head bent, and his big feet spread apart, he began explaining his reasons for thinking the abbé’s plan chimerical.1869, Leon Tolstoy, War and Peace (Translated by Louise and Aylmer Maude):
3
Inherently fantastic; wildly fanciful.
- "You are the most charming person in the world. You are invested with a perfect halo of delight," exclaimed Henrietta. "Miss Churchill has some chimerical notion of honour in her head, but that is over now; your information does not leave a single obstacle in the way of the most perfect happiness that ever wound up a fairy tale...1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter VII, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 51:
5
Of a perceived color Impossible to physically produce due to having an impossibly-high saturation or luminosity, but viewable by overlaying an afterimage and a suitably-colored physical image.
- Derived terms
- chimerically
- Hyponyms
- hyperbolic, self-luminous, stygian