fantasy

Imagery that is more or less coherent, as in dreams and daydreams, yet unrestricted by reality. SYN: phantasia. [G. phantasia, idea, image]

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fan·ta·sy also phan·ta·sy 'fant-ə-sē, -zē n, pl -sies the power or process of creating esp. 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>

fantasy also phantasy vb, -sied; -sy·ing FANTASIZE

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n.

a complex sequence of imagination in which several imaginary elements are woven together into a story. An excessive preoccupation with one's own imaginings may be symptomatic of a difficulty in coping with reality. In psychoanalytic psychology, unconscious fantasies are supposed to control behaviour, so that psychological symptoms can be symbols of or defences against such fantasies (see symbolism).

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fan·ta·sy (fanґtə-se) [Gr. phantasia imagination; the power by which an object is made apparent to the mind] a consciously or unconsciously imagined situation or sequence of events, such as a daydream. Fantasy can serve as a realistic rehearsal of future events; it may also serve as an unconscious defense mechanism providing wish-fulfillment, gratification of repressed impulses, and resolution of unconscious conflicts.