CHIMERA

Pronunciation (US): (GB):

I. (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A grotesque product of the imagination

Synonyms:

chimaera; chimera

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Hypernyms ("chimera" is a kind of...):

imagery; imagination; imaging; mental imagery (the ability to form mental images of things or events)

Derivation:

chimeral; chimeric (being or relating to or like a chimera)

chimerical (produced by a wildly fanciful imagination)

Sense 2

Meaning:

(Greek mythology) fire-breathing female monster with a lion's head and a goat's body and a serpent's tail; daughter of Typhon

Synonyms:

Chimaera; Chimera

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("Chimera" is a kind of...):

mythical creature; mythical monster (a monster renowned in folklore and myth)

Domain category:

Greek mythology (the mythology of the ancient Greeks)

Derivation:

chimeral; chimerical (being or relating to or like a chimera)

Credits

Context examples:

"To you, then, my goal is as much a chimera as perpetual motion?" he demanded.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

The modern masters promise very little; they know that metals cannot be transmuted and that the elixir of life is a chimera but these philosophers, whose hands seem only made to dabble in dirt, and their eyes to pore over the microscope or crucible, have indeed performed miracles.