phantasmal

[ fan-taz-muhl ]

/ fænˈtæz məl /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR phantasmal ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

pertaining to or of the nature of a phantasm; unreal; illusory; spectral: phantasmal creatures of nightmare.

Also phan·tas·mic, phan·tas·mi·cal, phan·tas·mat·ic

[fan-taz-mat-ik], /ˌfæn tæzˈmæt ɪk/, phan·tas·mat·i·cal.

Origin of phantasmal

First recorded in 1805–15; phantasm + -al¹

OTHER WORDS FROM phantasmal

phan·tas·mal·i·ty, nounphan·tas·mal·ly, phan·tas·mi·cal·ly, phan·tas·mat·i·cal·ly, adverb

Words nearby phantasmal

phantasm, phantasma, phantasmagoria, phantasmagoric, phantasmagory, phantasmal, phantasy, phantom, phantom circuit, phantom corpuscle, phantom limb

Example sentences from the Web for phantasmal

Until now, such figures have stridden the phantasmal plains of American folklore and popular culture.
A Populist Frankenstein|Lee Siegel|November 26, 2009|DAILY BEAST
We must try to form some impression of each of them, though most are but fugitive and phantasmal figures.
Aspects and Impressions|Edmund Gosse
It may be only once in a lifetime, and this one instance may be the perception of a phantasmal appearance.
Telepathy and the Subliminal Self|R. Osgood Mason
The splashing of the fountain was phantasmal and very far away.
The Duchess of Wrexe|Hugh Walpole

On every hand to the far horizon stretched that strange, phantasmal ocean, and a hazy sun looked over the shifting billows.
Lucy Maud Montgomery Short Stories, 1909 to 1922|Lucy Maud Montgomery
A dense, soft snow was falling, through which the figures of men and women moved with phantasmal noiselessness.
Stories by American Authors, Volume 10|Various