chimerical

English

Alternative forms

• chimaerical, chimærical

Etymology

From chimera, from Latin chimaera, from Ancient Greek χίμαιρα (khímaira, “she-goat”). 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).

   a chimerical goal

   • 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.

3. Inherently fantastic; wildly fanciful.
   • 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter VII, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, 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)
• German: Chimären- (de)
• Irish: ciméarach

being a figment of the imagination

• Catalan: quimèric
• Esperanto: ĥimera
• German: chimärenhaft
• Russian: химери́чный (ru) (ximeríčnyj), химери́ческий (ru) (ximeríčeskij)
• Ukrainian: химеристий (xymerystyj)

inherently fantastic

• Arabic: خُرَافِيّ (ḵurāfiyy)
• Esperanto: ĥimera
• German: chimärisch (de), wunderhaft
• 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)
• 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
• Italian: ^{(please verify)} chimerico (it)

Anagrams

• cimeliarch