figment means A fabrication, fantasy, invention; something fictitious. It carries an Arena rating of 1504, earned across 2 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, figment ranks #2,340 of 14,361 for Most Ingenious Words, #2,350 of 14,448 for Most Incisive Words, #2,374 of 14,451 for Most Whimsical Words, #2,601 of 14,322 for Scariest Words.
figment is pronounced /ˈfɪɡ.mənt/.
Why “figment” is a great word
A fabrication or fantasy; something invented or existing only in the imagination. From Late Latin figmentum ("anything made, a fiction"), from Latin fingō ("to shape, form, or feign"). Unlike "fabrication," which implies a deliberate, deceptive falsehood, or "artifact," a tangible testament to craft, a figment is a weightless making of the mind—unbound by material consequence. It is the monster under the bed that dissolves in daylight, the precise memory of a conversation that never occurred, or the vivid presence of a lost lover conjured by the scent of rain on hot stone—brief, unprovable, and wholly felt, proof that the mind’s quietest inventions can bear the full weight of truth.
Etymology
From Late Latin figmentum (“anything made, a fiction”), from fingō (“make, form, feign”); see fiction, feign, feint.
noun
- A fabrication, fantasy, invention; something fictitious.e.g.“a figment of one's imagination”
- An item which has been crafted.
Words closest in meaning
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