空想|くうそうkuusou[0]heiban (flat)

JLPT N2approx.Common
Definitions
  1. suru verb, transitive verb, no-adjectivedaydream; fantasy; fancy; vision
    彼かれは空想くうそうの世界せかいに生いきている。↗
    He lives in a world of fantasy.
Conjugation
Dictionary form空想する(くうそうする)
Polite (masu)空想します(くうそうします)
Negative (nai)空想しない(くうそうしない)
polite (masen)空想しません(くうそうしません)
classical zu / nu空想せず・空想せぬ(くうそうせず・くうそうせぬ)
Past (ta)空想した(くうそうした)
polite (mashita)空想しました(くうそうしました)
Past negative (nakatta)空想しなかった(くうそうしなかった)
polite (masen deshita)空想しませんでした(くうそうしませんでした)
Te form空想して(くうそうして)
Potential空想できる(くうそうできる)
Passive空想される(くうそうされる)
Causative空想させる(くうそうさせる)
Causative passive空想させられる(くうそうさせられる)
Conditional (ba)空想すれば(くうそうすれば)
tara空想したら(くうそうしたら)
Volitional空想しよう(くうそうしよう)
polite (mashou)空想しましょう(くうそうしましょう)
Imperative空想しろ(くうそうしろ)

Common forms generated by rule; see the senses for honorific or irregular usage.

Synonyms & antonyms
  • Synonym夢想むそうWrittenWritten/formal prose. Covers thoughts that come in dreams or unrealistic ideas; 「空想」 is the more common everyday word for idle fantasy.
  • Synonym幻想げんそうWrittenWritten/formal prose. Points to illusory imagining and also hallucinations; 「空想」 stresses letting the mind roam free beyond reality.
  • Synonym想像そうぞうNeutralNeutral. Imagination or guesswork that need not depart from reality; 「空想」 stresses the impractical, unrealistic content.
  • RelatedイマジネーションNeutralNeutral loanword for imagination, the creative faculty; often used of creative work. 「空想」 is imagining that strays from reality.
  • Related幻影げんえいWrittenWritten/formal prose. A phantom that seems real, or an image formed in the mind; 「空想」 is the act of actively imagining such things.
  • RelatedビジョンNeutralNeutral loanword for a vision of the future, with a positive feel; 「空想」 is fantasy detached from reality.
  • Related錯覚さっかくNeutralNeutral. A perceptual illusion or mistaking one thing for another; 「空想」 is deliberate, conscious imagining.
  • Related夢幻むげんWrittenWritten/formal prose for the dreamlike and illusory; 「空想」 names the act of imagining itself.
  • RelatedイメージNeutralNeutral loanword for a mental image or impression; 「空想」 stresses the impractical nature of what is imagined.
  • Related幻まぼろしNeutralNeutral. A phantom or illusion, and by extension something legendary and rare, as in 「幻の名酒」; 「空想」 is the imagining itself.
  • Antonym現実げんじつNeutralNeutral antonym: stands at the opposite pole of real versus unreal, naming reality as opposed to 「空想」.
  • Antonym事実じじつNeutralNeutral antonym: also opposed to 「空想」 on the real–unreal axis, naming what actually happened or is true.

Use 「空想」 for daydreams and fantasies that stray from reality. For ordinary imagination pick 「想像」; for the illusory, 「幻想」; for phantoms, 「幻影」; for a positive vision of the future, 「ビジョン」. The antonyms are 「現実」 and 「事実」.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

Japanese definitions
  1. 現実げんじつからかけ離はなれたことをあれこれ想像そうぞうすること。ファンシー。
Kanji in this word
English equivalents
See also

JLPT vocabulary levels are community estimates, not official (no official lists have been published since the 2010 revision).

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