figment

Mind's own creation

A figment is something invented or imagined rather than real.

The word almost always appears in the phrase a figment of the imagination, suggesting that what someone believes they saw, heard, or experienced exists only in their mind: The noise wasn't real—just a figment of your imagination.

illusion

hallucination

Perception without external cause

mirageAtmospheric optical deception
apparitionVisible supernatural manifestation
phantasmIllusory supernatural appearance

delusion · specter · chimera · phantom · ghost · vision · specter · wraith · shadow · trick of the light

imagination

daydream

Conscious fantasy while awake

fantasyImaginative mental wandering
reverieAbstracted, pleasant daydream
mind's eyeInternal visualization capacity

visualization · musings · dreaminess · fancifulness · mental image · conjuring · whimsy · fancy · flight of fancy · wool-gathering

fabrication

invention

New device or method

falsehoodDeliberate untrue statement
lieDeliberate falsehood
mythTraditional explanatory tale

concoction · untruth · tall tale · story · canard · fable · confabulation · yarn · fairy tale · cock-and-bull story

Categories

unreal thingsillusion, delusion, fantasy, imaginary, fake
mental imagerymental image, mental picture, mind's eye, inner vision, visual imagery
illusionsmirage, optical illusion, hallucination, illusion, afterimage
imaginationimagination, daydreaming, daydreams, fantasies, fantasy
Nonexistencenothing, nothingness, nonexistence, void, null

Opposites

ontological status

figmentreality

What actually exists

actuality · fact · existence · truth · real thing

Phrases

figment of imagination
figment of one's imaginationInvented, unreal thing

Family

Familiarity: Top 100,000
Profile: Used worldwide · Timeless · Abstract · Everyday, not technical · Rated G