PHANTASM Definition & Meaning

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phantasm

[ fan-taz-uhm ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

an apparition or specter.
Synonyms: ,
a creation of the imagination or fancy; fantasy.
a mental image or representation of a real object.
an illusory likeness of something.
Synonyms: ,

phantasm

/ ˈ��æ�Գ�æ��ə�� /

noun

a phantom
an illusory perception of an object, person, etc
(in the philosophy of Plato) objective reality as distorted by perception

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Derived Forms

��󲹲�ˈ�ٲ��, adjective
��󲹲�ˈ�ٲ��ly, adverb

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�y��vlog History and Origins

Origin of phantasm¹

First recorded in 1175–1225; from Latin phantasma, from Greek ��á�Գٲ�� “image, vision” (akin to ��󲹲Գ�á��𾱲� “to bring before the mind”); replacing Middle English fantesme, from Old French, from Latin as above

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�y��vlog History and Origins

Origin of phantasm¹

C13: from Old French fantasme, from Latin phantasma, from Greek; related to Greek phantazein to cause to be seen, from phainein to show

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Synonym Study

See apparition.

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

David Hume, the 18th Century philosopher, described it as “the phantasm of the senses.”

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Even the implicit promise of a male-oriented community is a phantasm.

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Republican politicians win by keeping their base voters focused on phantasms and symbolic, ego-driven identity politics, rather than real world issues.

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This dependency on fighting imaginary phantasms — which are responsible for eroding our "values" and "culture" by making America browner, less Christian, more constitutionally equal and ever less heterosexual — is what unites GOP base voters.

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And before that, I was reading accounts of specters and phantasms at a home built in the early 1800s.

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