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figment

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figment of (one's)/the imagination

An experience that initially is thought to be real but is actually imagined. I thought I heard the sound of my front door opening last night but it turned out to be a figment of my imagination.

See also: figment, imagination, of

be a figment of (one's/the) imagination

To be an imagined experience (especially after one has initially thought it to be real). I thought I heard the sound of my front door opening last night but it turned out to be a figment of my imagination.

See also: figment, imagination, of

a figment of your imagination

also a figment of the imagination

something created by your mind I thought I saw someone standing in the shadows, but it was just a figment of my imagination.

See also: figment, imagination, of

be a figment of your/the imagination

if something is a figment of your imagination, it seems real although it is not I thought I saw someone standing in the shadows, but it was just a figment of my imagination.

See also: figment, imagination, of

figment of one's imagination

Something made up, invented, or fabricated, as in "The long dishevelled hair, the swelled black face, the exaggerated stature were figments of imagination" (Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre, 1847). This term is redundant, since figment means "product of the imagination." [Early 1800s]

See also: figment, imagination, of