空想|くうそうkuusou[0]heiban (flat)
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- suru verb, transitive verb, no-adjectivedaydream; fantasy; fancy; vision
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.
- 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


