fantastic

/fænˈtæstɪk/

/fænˈtæstɪk/

Other forms: fantasticly

The adjective fantastic has two meanings — extraordinarily brilliant or ludicrously far-fetched. So when your boss calls your suggestion of work-at-home-in-your-bathrobe-Fridays for the whole office fantastic, be sure you know which one he means.

We get fantastic from the Latin phantasticus, meaning “imaginary.” Sometimes it’s still used that way: If you call a unicorn a fantastic beast, you’re not paying it a compliment; you’re saying it exists only in fairy tales. Most often, though, fantastic means strikingly out-of-the-ordinary. It can be complimentary ("You got an A? Fantastic!") or disparaging ("He was always foolishly unrealistic, but trying to reach the moon using a balloon tied to his bicycle was his most fantastic idea yet.").

Definitions of fantastic

1. adjective

   extravagantly fanciful in design, construction, appearance
   “Gaudi's fantastic architecture”

   synonyms:

   fancy

   not plain; decorative or ornamented
2. adjective

   existing in fancy only
   “"fantastic figures with bulbous heads the circumference of a bushel"- Nathaniel Hawthorne”

   synonyms: fantastical

   unreal

   lacking in reality or substance or genuineness; not corresponding to acknowledged facts or criteria
3. adjective

   fanciful and unrealistic; foolish
   “a fantastic idea of his own importance”

   synonyms: wild

   unrealistic

   not realistic
4. adjective

   ludicrously odd
   “fantastic Halloween costumes”

   synonyms: antic, fantastical, grotesque

   strange, unusual

   being definitely out of the ordinary and unexpected; slightly odd or even a bit weird
5. adjective

   extraordinarily good or great ; used especially as intensifiers
   “the film was fantastic!”

   synonyms: grand, howling, incredible, marvellous, marvelous, rattling, terrific, tremendous, wonderful, wondrous

   extraordinary

   beyond what is ordinary or usual; highly unusual or exceptional or remarkable