chimerical
/kɪˈmɛɹɪkəl/
"chimerical" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“chimerical” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 10
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Of or pertaining to a chimera.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | chimerical |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /kɪˈmɛɹɪkəl/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “chimerical” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
chimerical is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective, transcribed /kɪˈmɛɹɪkəl/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 5 senses are on record.
No generated misspelling entries exist for chimerical in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From chimera, from Latin chimaera, from Ancient Greek χίμαιρα (khímaira, “she-goat”). This term entered English in or around 1638. The correct English form is chimerical, spelled C-H-I-M-E-R-I-C-A-L.
Definition
- 1Of or pertaining to a chimera.
- 2Being a figment of the imagination; fantastic (in the archaic sense).
- 3Inherently fantastic; wildly fanciful.
- 4Resulting from the expression of two or more genes that originally coded for separate proteins.
- 5Impossible to physically produce due to having an impossibly-high saturation or luminosity, but viewable by overlaying an afterimage and a suitably-colored physical image.
Etymology
From chimera, from Latin chimaera, from Ancient Greek χίμαιρα (khímaira, “she-goat”). This term entered English in or around 1638.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “chimerical”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-H-I-M-E-R-I-C-A-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /kɪˈmɛɹɪkəl/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.