noun
figment
FIG-muhnt/ˈfɪɡmənt/
Something imagined or invented rather than real.
The fanciful creature is a figment of the woman's imagination developed through drawing.
Etymology
Latin figmentum meant something fashioned or created. In English, that creation is something fashioned by the imagination—a myth, fable, or other invention rather than a physical object.
In context
it is an impression of the sort I have met with in the works of poets or on the stage but I always always thought it was a figment of the imagination
More examples
- That conversation really happened; it wasn't a figment of my imagination.
- The creatures in her drawings are colorful figments of her imagination.
- He dismisses the supposed conspiracy as a figment.
Forms
figment · figments
Similar words
- fabrication
- Usually a deliberate falsehood, rather than any imagined thing.
- invention
- Can also name a real device or an original idea.
- illusion
- A misleading perception or appearance, not necessarily something invented.