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fantasy

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

7 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

Wiktionary

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "fantasy", 7-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "fantasy" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "fantasy" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

fantasy is aEnglishnoun. It means: That which comes from one's imagination. Pronounced /ˈfæntəsi/. It ranks #2,894 in English word frequency. Often confused with fanbase and fantasia.

Key facts for fantasy
PropertyValue
Headwordfantasy
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈfæntəsi/
Letters7
Frequency rank#2,894
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs2
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of fantasy in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for fantasy is 7 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈfæntəsi/. Corpus data places it at rank #2,894 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 11 documented wrong-spelling variants for fantasy, with forms such as "afntasy", "fanatsy", and "fanntasy". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "fanbase", "fantasia", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: Noun inherited from Middle English fantasie, from Old French fantasie (“fantasy”), from Latin phantasia (“imagination”), from Ancient Greek φαντασία (phantasía, “apparition”), from φαντάζω (phantázō, “to render visible”), from φαντός (phantós, “visible”), f… Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is fantasy, spelled F-A-N-T-A-S-Y, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    That which comes from one's imagination.
  2. 2
    The literary genre generally dealing with themes of magic and the supernatural, imaginary worlds and creatures, etc.
  3. 3
    A fantastical design.
  4. 4
    The drug gamma-hydroxybutyric acid.

Etymology

Noun inherited from Middle English fantasie, from Old French fantasie (“fantasy”), from Latin phantasia (“imagination”), from Ancient Greek φαντασία (phantasía, “apparition”), from φαντάζω (phantázō, “to render visible”), from φαντός (phantós, “visible”), from φαίνω (phaínō, “to make visible”); from the same root as φάος (pháos, “light”); ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰh₂nyéti, from the root *bʰeh₂- (“to shine”). Doublet of fancy, fantasia, phantasia, and phantasy. Verb from Middle English fantasien, from Old French fantasier. Doublet of fancy.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: afntasy,fanatsy,fanntasy,fantassy,fantasyy,fantays,fantsay,fanttasy,fatnasy,ffantasy,fnatasy

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for fantasy

Misspelling Variants of "fantasy"

afntasy7fanatsy7fanntasy8fantassy8fantasyy8fantays7fantsay7fanttasy8
Misspelling Variants of "fantasy"

Frequency rank: #2,894 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "fantasy"?
"fantasy" is spelled F-A-N-T-A-S-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈfæntəsi/.
What does "fantasy" mean?
As a noun, "fantasy" means: That which comes from one's imagination.
What words are commonly confused with "fantasy"?
"fantasy" is commonly confused with "fanbase", "fantasia". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "fantasy"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "fantasy" is /ˈfæntəsi/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "fantasy"?
Noun inherited from Middle English fantasie, from Old French fantasie (“fantasy”), from Latin phantasia (“imagination”), from Ancient Greek φαντασία (phantasía, “apparition”), from φαντάζω (phantázō, “to render visible”), from φαντός (phantós, “vi... See the full etymology section above for more details.
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Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter F in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.