n.
Variant: also phan · ta · sy
Pronunciation: ' fan-t ə -s ē , -z ē
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural -sies
Etymology: Middle English fantasie ― more at FANCY
Date: 14th century
1 obsolete : HALLUCINATION
2 : FANCY especially : the free play of creative imagination
3 : a creation of the imaginative faculty whether expressed or merely conceived: as a : a fanciful design or invention b : a chimerical or fantastic notion c : FANTASIA 1 d : imaginative fiction featuring especially strange settings and grotesque characters ― called also fantasy fiction
4 : CAPRICE
5 : the power or process of creating especially unrealistic or improbable mental images in response to psychological need <an object of fantasy > also : a mental image or a series of mental images (as a daydream) so created <sexual fantasies of adolescence>
6 : a coin usually not intended for circulation as currency and often issued by a dubious authority (as a government-in-exile)