HALLUCINATORY Synonyms: 74 Similar and Opposite Words

hallucinatory

adjective

Definition of hallucinatory

as in surreal

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of hallucinatory After the attack, his witty, vulnerable voice holds together a chaotic and increasingly hallucinatory downward slide. — Katy Waldman, New Yorker, 31 Aug. 2026 That wouldn’t have left time for the psychotic, hallucinatory state to begin and for the voices in Clancy’s head to kick in and tell her to kill the children and carry out the suicide attempt, as the defense team has contended, Sprague said. — Emily Hallas, The Washington Examiner, 27 Aug. 2026 For Prosper Insights & Analytics Both executives and employees listed the top two concerns being the need for human oversight and inaccurate or hallucinatory outputs. — Gary Drenik, Forbes.com, 18 Aug. 2026 Paramount+ delivered the main full trailer for season 4 on June 15, 2026, and it’s packed with dinosaurs, cowboys, horses, space storms, dreams, nightmares, fire-breathing dragons, haunted spaceships, and hallucinatory pleasure planets. — Jeff Spry, Space.com, 23 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for hallucinatory

Recent Examples of Synonyms for hallucinatory

Adjective

But those unfamiliar with his surreal talk show appearances, Dumb Starbucks or Door City, here’s a primer on the origin and rise of Fielder.

— Jenelle Riley, Los Angeles Times, 22 Oct. 2026
Rick Rubin episode, and that episode in particular allowed the show to take on this more surreal A24-esque turn, especially in season three.

— Brian Davids, HollywoodReporter, 21 Oct. 2026

Definition of surreal

Adjective

Thomas drives away with a limp, malfunctioning Vision next to him, and an illusory, wisecracking Ultron in the back seat.

— Tasha Robinson, Vulture, 14 Oct. 2026
Yet these promises of a self-running state are illusory, because AI is never truly autonomous.

— Seva Gunitsky, Foreign Affairs, 1 Oct. 2026

Definition of illusory

Adjective

This isn’t callousness or delusive optimism but, rather, a rebellion against the suffocating expectation that the elderly have foreclosed the possibility of joy.

— Hillary Kelly, The New Yorker, 21 Feb. 2024
To separate art from its historical framework is futile, and to reject it in an effort to censor past violence is a delusive act of virtue signaling.

— WSJ, WSJ, 5 July 2022

Definition of delusive

Adjective

The book used an imaginary dialogue between two women to explain the principles of economics, collecting the ideas of the new science together in a way that had never before been attempted.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 26 Oct. 2026
Bill Irwin isn’t going anywhere — knock on all available wood — except quickly to the imaginary bathroom just off stage right several times a night as his character’s regimen of enemas kicks in.

— Sara Holdren, Vulture, 23 Oct. 2026

Definition of imaginary

Adjective

Mental health experts have voiced concerns about chatbots’ sycophancy, lack of clinical nuance, and ability to reinforce delusional beliefs.

— Andrew R. Chow, Time, 22 Oct. 2026
What helped turn this childhood quirk into a pilot script was a little research into Capgras syndrome, one hell of a delusional disorder that affects the rare patient who firmly believes a family member or close friend is an impostor.

— Mikey O'Connell, HollywoodReporter, 22 Oct. 2026

Definition of delusional

Adjective

This Lincolnian view of the war—that the United States was perpetual and that the Confederate States of America was a fictitious, farcical nation—has led to various historical interpretations ever since, among historians and laypeople alike.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 19 Oct. 2026
The series will be set in a fictitious Barneys in Beverly Hills, not New York, and the real founding family of the retailer, the Pressman family, has no involvement, the spokesperson said.

— Jean E. Palmieri, Footwear News, 14 Oct. 2026

Definition of fictitious

Adjective

The novel was also partly epistolary, including segments of fictional court transcripts and news coverage created by King (who enjoyed mimicking different writing styles).

— ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 21 Oct. 2026
The film—based on the 2014 play Switzerland by Joanna Murray-Smith—sets a fictional scene in the final chapter of Highsmith’s life.

— Alex Jhamb Burns, Vogue, 21 Oct. 2026

Definition of fictional

Browse Nearby Words

hallucinations

hallucinatory

hallucinoses

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“Hallucinatory.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hallucinatory. Accessed 28 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of hallucinatory

adjective

Example Sentences

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