Meaning & use
chimera
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Meanings
nouncountable
A monster from Greek myth with a lion's head, a goat's body and a serpent's tail.
Grammar: Often capitalized for the Greek creature: the Chimera.
Patterns
- the Chimera of myth
The hero fought the Chimera in an old Greek story.
A bronze chimera stands in the museum's ancient art hall.
Stone chimeras decorate the medieval cathedral.
nouncountableliteraryfigurative
A hope, dream or fear that is unrealistic and can never come true.
Grammar: Literary; often used with chase: chase a chimera.
Patterns
- chase a chimera
- a mere chimera
Perfect safety is a chimera in a changing world.
He spent years chasing the chimera of instant wealth.
Their dream of a trouble-free life proved a chimera.
nouncountablebiologytechnical
An organism whose body contains cells from two genetically different sources.
Grammar: Biology term: a chimera has two sets of DNA.
Patterns
- a chimera of something
Scientists created a mouse chimera to study stem cells.
Some people are natural chimeras because of a twin's cells.
A graft can produce a plant chimera with two colors of leaf.
Word forms
| plural | chimeras |
|---|
Common combinations
- chase a chimera
- Critics say the plan is chasing a chimera.
- mere chimera
- Peace seemed a mere chimera.
- mythical chimera
- The mythical chimera breathed fire.
- genetic chimera
- A genetic chimera has cells from two embryos.
- pursue a chimera
- He pursued a chimera for decades.
Synonyms and how they differ
- illusion
- Illusion is a broader word for something that looks real but is not, while chimera is a wild hope.
- fantasy
- Fantasy can be harmless and enjoyable, while chimera suggests a hope that wastes effort.
- pipe dream
- Pipe dream is informal and always about an unrealistic plan, while chimera is literary.
- hybrid
- Hybrid describes a real mix from two kinds, not an impossible dream.
Opposites
Word family
- chimeric adjective
- made of two or more different parts, or fanciful
- chimerical adjective
- imaginary or unrealistic
- chimerism noun
- the state of being a biological chimera
Commonly confused: chimera or chimaera? chimera or chimney?
chimera vs chimaera
Chimaera is a variant spelling of chimera and also a kind of deep-sea fish.
chimera vs chimney
Chimney looks similar but means a pipe that carries smoke out of a building.
Practice
Which sentence uses chimera in the sense of an unrealistic hope?
Choose one answer.
Winning every game was an impossible hope, so it is the figurative sense. The others refer to a myth, a biological organism and statues.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “chimera”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.