From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishchimerachi‧me‧ra, chimaera /kaɪˈmɪərə, kə- $ -ˈmɪrə/ noun [countable] 1 formalIMPOSSIBLE something, especially an idea or hope, that is not really possible and can never exist trying to present that chimera, ‘a balanced view’2 RMan imaginary creature that breathes fire and has a lion’s head, a goat’s body, and a snake’s tail3 technical a living thing that contains cells from another living thing
Examples from the Corpus
chimera• The notion of transparent reporting which can be understood by the untutored layman is a chimera.• I wish only to have made it sufficiently clear that scientific reasoning is a chimera.• The last of these promises often proves more than a chimera, however.• A flailing chimera of camera crews, photographers and reporters staggers backwards down some city high street.• This qualified chimera image will allow our comparison of Presocratic reasoning with scientific reasoning to be more precise.• It was upon the advice of the Crown's United Kingdom ministers that the chimera of the Commonwealth was invented and installed.• the chimera of a "universal language"• The focus of media coverage in the popular press is implicitly working towards this chimera.Origin chimera (1300-1400) Latin chimaera, from Greek chimaira “female goat, chimera” 