Chinese word

幻想

Pronunciation

Pinyinhuàn xiǎng

Meaning

  • nounfantasy

Example

不要把自己的幻想当成现实。bú yào bǎ zì jǐ de huàn xiǎng dàng chéng xiàn shí

Don't mistake your own fantasies for reality.

Illustration for 幻想 (fantasy)

More examples

他最终承认那只是个幻想。tā zuì zhōng chéng rèn nà zhǐ shì gè huàn xiǎng

He finally admitted that it was only a fantasy.

Core concept

A private version of reality created by the mind, whether it lasts for a moment or becomes hard to let go.

Common phrases

  • 抱着幻想bào zhe huàn xiǎng

    cling to fantasies

  • 沉迷于幻想chén mí yú huàn xiǎng

    be lost in fantasy

  • 幻想破灭huàn xiǎng pò miè

    fantasy is shattered

Similar words

想象xiǎng xiàng: The mind's ability to picture people, things, or scenes that are not actually present.
梦想mèng xiǎng: An important hope or goal that someone strongly wants to achieve in the future.
妄想wàng xiǎng: An unfounded belief that something unreal is true.
幻觉huàn jué: Seeing or hearing something that has no real source, sometimes because of illness or medication.

Definition in Chinese

基于主观愿望或想象形成的非现实念头，可指一时的白日梦也可指较为执着的妄想。jī yú zhǔ guān yuàn wàng huò xiǎng xiàng xíng chéng de fēi xiàn shí niàn tou kě zhǐ yì shí de bái rì mèng yě kě zhǐ jiào wéi zhí zhuó de wàng xiǎng

Word origin

The compound joins 幻 (huàn, "illusion") with 想 (xiǎng, "think or imagine"), presenting imagination as something that looks real only inside the mind.

Usage tips

  • English speakers may hear "fantasy" as creative or entertaining, while this Chinese word can also carry a skeptical tone about an unreal hope.

Other meanings

  • delusionnoun
  • daydreamnoun

Opposites

Related words

  • 幻想曲huàn xiáng qǔfantasianoun
  • 幻想主义huàn xiǎng zhǔ yìfantasismnoun

Word lists with this word