chimera
noun
[ kʌɪˈmɪərə ]
• (in Greek mythology) a fire-breathing female monster with a lion's head, a goat's body, and a serpent's tail.
• a thing which is hoped for but is illusory or impossible to achieve.
• "the economic sovereignty you claim to defend is a chimera"
Similar:
illusion,
fantasy,
delusion,
dream,
fancy,
figment of the imagination,
will-o'-the-wisp,
phantom,
mirage,
ignis fatuus,
• an organism containing a mixture of genetically different tissues, formed by processes such as fusion of early embryos, grafting, or mutation.
• "the sheeplike goat chimera"
• a cartilaginous marine fish with a long tail, an erect spine before the first dorsal fin, and typically a forward projection from the snout.
Origin:
late Middle English: via Latin from Greek khimaira ‘she-goat or chimera’.
