Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

fanciful

/ˈfænsɪfl̩/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.97 in modern English

Syllables: fan-ci-ful
IPA: /ˈfænsɪfl̩/

16

Scrabble Score

8

Letters

3

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Imaginative or fantastic; ignoring reality.

adj

Unreal or imagined.

Example Sentences

"Near-synonyms: conceptual, fancied, ideal, notional"
"It was fanciful to suppose that all he had to do would be to stride into a top law firm and he would be hired on the spot."
"Mr. Butler, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain,” treats his newest novelistic conceit as an occasion to toss every possible ingredient into a fanciful hellscape and then let these elements run wild."

Etymology

From fancy + -ful.

Word Breakdown

Suffix: fancy

Inflected Forms

more fanciful (comparative) most fanciful (superlative) fancifull (alternative, obsolete) phanciful (alternative, obsolete) phancifull (alternative, obsolete)

Derived Forms

fancifully fancifulness nonfanciful overfanciful unfanciful

Synonyms

conceptual fancied ideal notional imaginary

Questions

How do you pronounce fanciful?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈfænsɪfl̩/.
What does fanciful mean?: Imaginative or fantastic; ignoring reality.
Where does fanciful come from?: From fancy + -ful.

How to pronounce fanciful

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “fanciful”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈfænsɪfl̩/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “fanciful”.
Repeat and practice — Say “fanciful” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.