imagined worlds
Invented fictional places
Imagined worlds are fictional settings created in the mind or through narrative—the realms of novels, films, games, and daydreams.
The phrase emphasizes constructed realities distinct from the actual world: She spent hours lost in imagined worlds of her own making.
In academic contexts, imagined worlds may refer to hypothetical scenarios used in philosophy or social science.
- make believeImaginative fantasy play
- alternate historyGenre reimagining past outcomes
- fantasy realmFictional magical setting
- subcreationInvented fictional universe
- dystopiaImaginary terrible society
magical realism · thought experiment · worldbuilding · counterfactual · fictional universe · mythos · cosmology · metaverse · simulation · escapism · portal · epic saga · speculative fiction · parallel universe · labyrinth · dragon · dreamscape · fever dream
imagined worldsreality
What actually exists
physical reality · objective reality · waking life · actuality · the here and now