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A figment is something formed from imaginary elements. Daydreams are figments; nightmares are figments that can seem very real. Most figments are everyday fears and hopes about small things that turn out to be imaginary. But when the radio play "The War of the Worlds" aired in 1938, it caused a panic among thousands of people who didn't realize the Martian invasion was just a figment of the author's imagination.
Synonyms
Examples of figment in a Sentence
unable to find any tracks in the snow the next morning, I was forced to conclude that the shadowy figure had been a figment of my imagination
thus far, the invisible human being has been nothing more than a figment of fantasy writers
Recent Examples on the Web
Your favorite Substack writer might be an AI figment.
—
Melvin Backman, Quartz, 18 Nov. 2024
And even her closest confidantes reveal themselves as figments of her imagination at the most vulnerable possible moments.
—Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 16 Oct. 2024
An imaginary friend is one thing for a child and quite another for a 38-year-old man who drinks excessively with this figment every night.
—Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 8 Oct. 2024
Kessler was always a figment of Butcher’s imagination, as flashbacks to the rest of the season help clarify for us.
—Alex Raiman, EW.com, 4 July 2024
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Melvin Backman, Quartz, 18 Nov. 2024
And even her closest confidantes reveal themselves as figments of her imagination at the most vulnerable possible moments.
—Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 16 Oct. 2024
An imaginary friend is one thing for a child and quite another for a 38-year-old man who drinks excessively with this figment every night.
—Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 8 Oct. 2024
Kessler was always a figment of Butcher’s imagination, as flashbacks to the rest of the season help clarify for us.
—Alex Raiman, EW.com, 4 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for figment
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Dictionary Entries Near figment
Cite this Entry
“Figment.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/figment. Accessed 28 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
figment
noun
fig·ment
ˈfig-mənt 
: something imagined or made up
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