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"Figment" other than in "figment of the imagination"?

English Language & Usage Asked on April 10, 2021

Are there any recurring uses of the word “figment” other than in the expression “figment of the imagination”?

2 Answers

Certainly. "Figment" can be used as these examples show:

Social figments, feints, and formalism.
~ Mrs. Browning.

It carried rather an appearance of figment and invention . . . than of truth and reality. ~Woodward.

As you said, it's commonly used in "figment of imagination", but its definition

fabrication, fantasy, invention; something fictitious

—means it can be used everywhere really, to signify "anything fictitious."

Correct answer by Thursagen on April 10, 2021

From http://vocabulary-vocabulary.com/dictionary/figment.php

It's most commonly used as a critique, in the phrase "figment of your imagination." To use figment in a different context, without that common phrase, is a good way of intellectualizing it. Biographical and historical figments are invented or feigned stories.

Was that a figment, or did I just see my estranged brother. (chimera, illusion)

Either that was a very real-to-life figment, or I just saw a bald eagle flying outside our window. (fabrication, illusion)

Answered by shinynewbike on April 10, 2021

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