chimerical

English

Alternative forms

• chimaerical, chimærical

Etymology

From chimera, from Latin chimaera, from . This term entered English in or around 1638.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɪˈmɛɹɪkəl/, /kaɪ-/
• Rhymes: -ɛɹɪkəl

Adjective

chimerical (comparative more chimerical, superlative most chimerical)

1. Of or pertaining to a chimera.
2. Being a figment of the imagination; fantastic (in the archaic sense).
   • 1887, Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet

     "Yes; I have a turn both for observation and for deduction. The theories which I have expressed there, and which appear to you to be so chimerical, are really extremely practical—so practical that I depend upon them for my bread and cheese."

   • 1869, Leon Tolstoy, War and Peace (Translated by Louise and Aylmer Maude)

     With his head bent, and his big feet spread apart, he began explaining his reasons for thinking the abbé’s plan chimerical.

   a chimerical goal

3. Inherently fantastic; wildly fanciful.
   • 1837, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, Ethel Churchill, volume 3, page 51:

     "You are the most charming person in the world. You are invested with a perfect halo of delight," exclaimed Henrietta. "Miss Churchill has some chimerical notion of honour in her head, but that is over now; your information does not leave a single obstacle in the way of the most perfect happiness that ever wound up a fairy tale...

4. (genetics) Resulting from the expression of two or more genes that originally coded for separate proteins.
5. (vision, of a perceived color) Impossible to physically produce due to having an impossibly-high saturation or luminosity, but viewable by overlaying an afterimage and a suitably-colored physical image.

Hyponyms

(color):

• hyperbolic
• self-luminous
• stygian

Derived terms

• chimerically

Translations

of or pertaining to a chimera

• Catalan: quimèric
• Esperanto: ĥimera
• French: chimérique (fr)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• German: Chimären- (de)
• Irish: ciméarach

being a figment of the imagination

• Catalan: quimèric
• Esperanto: ĥimera
• German: chimärenhaft
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Russian: химери́чный (ru) (ximeríčnyj), химери́ческий (ru) (ximeríčeskij)
• Ukrainian: химеристий (xymerystyj)

inherently fantastic

• Arabic: خُرَافِيّ (ḵurāfiyy)
• Esperanto: ĥimera
• German: chimärisch (de), wunderhaft
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Russian: химе́рный (ru) (ximérnyj), чуда́ческий (ru) (čudáčeskij)
• Ukrainian: химе́рний (xymérnyj), чудернацький (čudernacʹkyj)

resulting from the expression of two or more genes

• French: chimérique (fr)
• Italian: chimerico (it)
• Portuguese: quimérico (pt)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Russian: химе́рный (ru) (ximérnyj)
• Spanish: quimérico (es)
• Ukrainian: химе́рний (xymérnyj)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Irish: ^{(please verify)} ciméarach
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: ^{(please verify)} chimerico (it)

Anagrams

• cimeliarch