MYTHICAL Synonyms: 90 Similar and Opposite Words

Q: How is the word 'mythical' distinct from other similar adjectives?

Some common synonyms of mythical are apocryphal , fabulous , fictitious , and legendary . While all these words mean "having the nature of something imagined or invented," mythical implies a purely fanciful explanation of facts or the creation of beings and events out of the imagination. // mythical creatures

Q: When is 'apocryphal' a more appropriate choice than 'mythical'?

In some situations, the words apocryphal and mythical are roughly equivalent. However, apocryphal implies an unknown or dubious source or origin or may imply that the thing itself is dubious or inaccurate. // a book that repeats many apocryphal stories

Q: In what contexts can 'fabulous' take the place of 'mythical'?

While in some cases nearly identical to mythical , fabulous stresses the marvelous or incredible character of something without necessarily implying impossibility or actual nonexistence. // a land of fabulous riches

Q: When might 'fictitious' be a better fit than 'mythical'?

While the synonyms fictitious and mythical are close in meaning, fictitious implies fabrication and suggests artificiality or contrivance more than deliberate falsification or deception. // fictitious characters

Q: When can 'legendary' be used instead of 'mythical'?

The words legendary and mythical can be used in similar contexts, but legendary suggests the elaboration of invented details and distortion of historical facts produced by popular tradition. // the legendary exploits of Davy Crockett

mythical

adjective

ˈmi-thi-kəl

variants or mythic

Definition of mythical

as in legendary

based on, described in, or being a myth for years the Spanish conquistadors searched for the mythical El Dorado, a place of unimaginable riches

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in imaginary

not real and existing only in the imagination the mythical unicorn

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Synonym Chooser

How is the word mythical distinct from other similar adjectives?

Some common synonyms of mythical are apocryphal, fabulous, fictitious, and legendary. While all these words mean "having the nature of something imagined or invented," mythical implies a purely fanciful explanation of facts or the creation of beings and events out of the imagination.

mythical creatures

When is apocryphal a more appropriate choice than mythical?

In some situations, the words apocryphal and mythical are roughly equivalent. However, apocryphal implies an unknown or dubious source or origin or may imply that the thing itself is dubious or inaccurate.

a book that repeats many apocryphal stories

In what contexts can fabulous take the place of mythical?

While in some cases nearly identical to mythical, fabulous stresses the marvelous or incredible character of something without necessarily implying impossibility or actual nonexistence.

a land of fabulous riches

When might fictitious be a better fit than mythical?

While the synonyms fictitious and mythical are close in meaning, fictitious implies fabrication and suggests artificiality or contrivance more than deliberate falsification or deception.

fictitious characters

When can legendary be used instead of mythical?

The words legendary and mythical can be used in similar contexts, but legendary suggests the elaboration of invented details and distortion of historical facts produced by popular tradition.

the legendary exploits of Davy Crockett

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of mythical The mythical image of the chivalrous mobster offered a way to ease the humiliating memory of losing the war and carried a nationalist charge, exploited in movies set amid black markets, rapacious Americans, and panpan girls. — Ian Buruma, New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2026 Jennifer De Angelo Baxter sculpted green snake heads and a headpiece out of foam, aluminum foil and cardboard to conjure the mythical Greek monster Medusa. — Dana Hedgpeth, Washington Post, 6 Oct. 2026 This coincidental trait inspired researchers to name the new genus Herugavialis after Heru, or Horus, the Egyptian god associated with the construction of the mythical creature. — Taylor Nicioli, CNN Money, 6 Oct. 2026 Stroll through the woods and encounter prehistoric scenes, luminous flowers, lantern art and a host of mythical creatures. — Todd Martens, Los Angeles Times, 1 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for mythical

Recent Examples of Synonyms for mythical

Adjective

Because New York is only as great as its citizens, and that means continuing its legendary diversity—not just racial and ethnic but also economic diversity.

— Gary Shteyngart, Condé Nast Traveler, 19 Oct. 2026
Curtis introduced the evening’s first presenter, Robert Rodriguez, who presented legendary filmmaker and composer John Carpenter with the Luminary Award.

— Vanity Fair, Vanity Fair, 18 Oct. 2026

Definition of legendary

Adjective

The wealth tax opponents have applied the age-old technique of mustering superficially plausible, but largely imaginary, consequences of passage.

— Business Columnist, Los Angeles Times, 16 Oct. 2026
The genre gave him considerably more freedom to invent architectural settings, mixing classical ruins, waterways, and figures into elaborate imaginary landscapes.

— Daniel Cassady, ARTnews.com, 15 Oct. 2026

Definition of imaginary

Adjective

Then, in 1882, by which time the culture of the European Grand Tour amongst wealthy British and North American youth of rank had peaked, the convent finally transmogrified into a hotel (like other convents along this fabled coast).

— Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 6 Oct. 2026
For his memorial on June 19, mourners gathered in Frankfurt’s Paulskirche, the fabled site of Germany’s nineteenth-century attempt at liberal revolution.

— Peter E. Gordon, The New York Review of Books, 3 Oct. 2026

Definition of fabled

Adjective

Gascón will play Manuela, a teacher in an elite school, and Ituño the the role of Evita, the personal secretary to the prime minister of the series’ fictional country.

— Annika Pham, Variety, 15 Oct. 2026
The series takes place during the fictional two-term Democratic administration of President Josiah Bartlet, played by Martin Sheen.

— Armando Tinoco, Deadline, 14 Oct. 2026

Definition of fictional

Adjective

The series will be set in a fictitious Barneys in Beverly Hills, not New York, and the real founding family of the retailer, the Pressman family, has no involvement, the spokesperson said.

— Jean E. Palmieri, Footwear News, 14 Oct. 2026
Dempsey appeared in Disney’s fantasy romance Enchanted (2007) as Robert Philip, a New York divorce lawyer whose orderly life is disrupted by the arrival of a fairy-tale princess (played by Amy Adams) from the fictitious land of Andalasia.

— Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 9 Oct. 2026

Definition of fictitious

Adjective

The second scenario in the speculative design research is built around an imagined service called Paren’t, which proposes to preserve a parent’s AI-powered postmortem presence for their child.

— Lissa Soep, Vox, 17 Oct. 2026
Drawn to the tactile and familiar qualities of paper, Teo uses playful forms and visual metaphors to transform everyday subjects and construct whimsical, imagined worlds.

— New York Times Games, New York Times, 4 Oct. 2026

Definition of imagined

Adjective

Peter [Merry] likes to use is that, when a caterpillar is becoming a butterfly, new ‘imaginal cells’ emerge.

— Big Think, Big Think, 7 Aug. 2025
With one technique, for example—called imaginal exposure—you might be asked to visualize the process of going to the airport, boarding the plane, and experiencing a bad bout of turbulence.

— Angela Haupt, TIME, 10 May 2024

Definition of imaginal

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“Mythical.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mythical. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of mythical

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