: a free usually instrumental composition not in strict form
2
a
: a work (such as a poem or play) in which the author's fancy roves unrestricted
b
: something possessing grotesque, bizarre, or unreal qualities
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the WebThe images are a nightclub fantasia that conjure the sense of decadent escapist release dressing up to dance all night promises. Rachel Tashjian, Harper's BAZAAR, 3 Aug. 2022 The shooting rips the viewer out of this fantasia into the real world, or at least an approximation of it, and sets the tone for what this show will be. Lester Fabian Brathwaite, EW.com, 9 June 2022 Tilda Swinton is a lonely scholar traveling to Istanbul, and Idris Elba is the intriguingly coiffed genie who promises to grant her three wishes in a fantasia written and directed by Mr. Mad Max himself, George Miller. Leah Greenblatt, EW.com, 17 May 2022 The façade is made of silky black granite trimmed with gold leaf; the entry is a gorgeous Art Deco fantasia, with enormous framed mirrors and elaborately detailed elevator doors.Travel + Leisure, 12 Apr. 2022 Milwaukee Opera Theatre opened its production of Dave Malloy's fantasia (pun intended) Friday evening at the Woman's Club of Wisconsin. Jim Higgins, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 2 Apr. 2022 Further aggression toward the Baltics, in particular, but also in other parts of Europe and Central Asia remain the concerns of those not lost to far-right fantasia. Alex Shephard, The New Republic, 24 Feb. 2022 One top of being one of the all-time great 1970s New York movies, Bob Fosse’s semi-autobiographical musical fantasia is a rare film that’s about New York filmmaking in the ’70s. Alison Willmore, Vulture, 6 Dec. 2021 With the fifth entry in the franchise, however, the series went Bond — becoming an international fantasia of increasingly fantastical set pieces, each one more ludicrous than the last. Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 2 July 2021 See More
Word History
Etymology
probably borrowed from Italian, "imagination as a faculty, rare phenomenon, exotic object, refined ornament, improvised musical variation," borrowed from Late Latin phantasia "imagination as a faculty, mental image of something perceived physically" — more at fantasy entry 1
Note: The musical term is conventionally attributed to Italian, though the linguistic context in which it is first used is uncertain.