Definition

1. Noun:
   • A grotesque product of the imagination; a fanciful illusion or fabrication: Something hoped for or imagined that is impossible, fanciful, or wildly unrealistic.
   • (Greek Mythology) A fire-breathing female monster: A hybrid creature composed of parts from different animals, typically with a lion's head, a goat's body, and a serpent's tail.

Usage

• The word "chimera" is used to describe an unrealistic hope, dream, or idea that cannot be achieved.
• In mythology and literature, it refers to a specific monstrous creature or, by extension, any mythical or fictional hybrid creature.
• It is a formal word, often used in academic, literary, or scientific contexts (e.g., genetic chimeras).

Examples

• As an illusion or fantasy:
  • His plan for a perpetual motion machine was a chimera.
  • The promise of effortless wealth is a dangerous chimera.
• As a mythological creature:
  • The hero Bellerophon was sent to slay the chimera.
  • Ancient art often depicts the chimera as a fearsome beast.

Advanced Usage

• Scientific Context (Genetics/Biology): An organism containing cells with two or more distinct genotypes. This usage derives from the mythological concept of a single entity composed of different parts.
  • The patient was found to be a genetic chimera.
• Literary/Artistic Context: Any fantastical or incongruous combination of elements.
  • The film was a chimera of film noir and romantic comedy.

Variants and Related Words

• Chimeric (adjective): Of or like a chimera; fantastically visionary or improbable.
  • They pursued a chimeric plan for world peace.
• Chimerical (adjective): Another form of the adjective, meaning imaginary, fanciful, or wildly unrealistic.
  • His chimerical schemes never came to fruition.

Synonyms

• Illusion: A false idea or belief.
• Fantasy: The faculty or activity of imagining impossible or improbable things.
• Mirage: An optical illusion; something that appears real but is not.
• Pipe dream: An unattainable or fanciful hope or scheme.

Idioms and Phrases

• Pursue a chimera: To chase after something that is impossible or unreal.
  • Investing all his money in that scheme was like pursuing a chimera.

Noun

1. a grotesque product of the imagination
2. (Greek mythology) fire-breathing female monster with a lion's head and a goat's body and a serpent's tail; daughter of Typhon