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figment of one's imagination

figment of one's imagination idiom
Something made up, invented, or fabricated, as in “The long dishevelled hair, the swelled black face, the exaggerated stature were figments of imagination” (Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre, 1847). This term is redundant, since figment means “product of the imagination.” [Early 1800s]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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