1
as in dream
a conception or image created by the imagination and having no objective reality
the magician specializes in creating illusions, so that people believe they have seen something when they really haven't
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in delusion
a false idea or belief
he had no illusions about how much effort and money the renovation project would require
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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Recent Examples of illusion
To convey the spirit of the moment, John Edwards inverted the photograph, turning the reflection into an illusion where the sky above the Buddha becomes a tapestry of floating flowers and drifting plants.
—
Cecilia Rodriguez, Forbes.com, 26 Jan. 2026
Reinvigorated by breaks away from the grid, the pair have points to prove and are under no illusions of the task that awaits.
—Aleks Klosok, CNN Money, 26 Jan. 2026
Spritz on just a little and polish with a rag or cloth to make the leaves of artificial plants shine, giving them the illusion of being real.
—Hallie Milstein, Southern Living, 26 Jan. 2026
The illusion of a second opinion Researchers don't yet have hard data that provides a sense of how outsourcing social tasks to AI affects relationship quality or overall well-being.
—Angela Haupt, Time, 26 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for illusion
Cecilia Rodriguez, Forbes.com, 26 Jan. 2026
Reinvigorated by breaks away from the grid, the pair have points to prove and are under no illusions of the task that awaits.
—Aleks Klosok, CNN Money, 26 Jan. 2026
Spritz on just a little and polish with a rag or cloth to make the leaves of artificial plants shine, giving them the illusion of being real.
—Hallie Milstein, Southern Living, 26 Jan. 2026
The illusion of a second opinion Researchers don't yet have hard data that provides a sense of how outsourcing social tasks to AI affects relationship quality or overall well-being.
—Angela Haupt, Time, 26 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for illusion
Recent Examples of Synonyms for illusion
Noun
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Sadly, his college ball dreams didn’t come to fruition after the coach who called him up retired.—
Marina Watts,
PEOPLE,
13 Jan. 2026
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Over the past seven years, Blake Lively brought her dream hair care line to life by redefining the beauty industry with a blend of passion, precision and purpose.—
Kanika Talwar,
Footwear News,
13 Jan. 2026
Noun
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The therapist could practice on a person pretending to have delusions, though this is likely costly and logistically complicated to arrange.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes.com,
27 Jan. 2026
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The neuropsychiatric effects of Huntington's disease include mood changes and altered thinking, such as hallucinations and delusions.—
Heidi Moawad,
Verywell Health,
19 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Alessandro Michele, at Valentino, was also thinking of how to collide reality and fantasy, staging his collection in nooks inspired by the kaiser panorama, an early 20th century precursor to cinema, in which viewers sat around a circle, staring into a contraption displaying slides.—
CNN Money,
CNN Money,
30 Jan. 2026
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Yeah, actor Rob Riggle caught grief in his fantasy football league.—
Pete Grathoff,
Kansas City Star,
29 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Emily Mendenhall traces the medical myths, gender bias, and neurological truths behind hysteria, one of history’s most damaging diagnoses.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
29 Jan. 2026
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The myth is that constant availability is productive when the data suggests otherwise.—
Dilan Gomih,
Forbes.com,
29 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Its onboard computer vision allows real-time detection and target tracking without external control, marking a significant step toward fully autonomous battlefield systems.—
Atharva Gosavi,
Interesting Engineering,
28 Jan. 2026
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For Jonathan Anderson’s vision of beauty at his first Dior women’s show in October, Guido Palau fluffed up models’ natural texture, not dissimilar from the windswept waves and pre-Raphaelite curls the hairstylist created for Veronica Leoni’s September Calvin Klein debut.—
Arden Fanning Andrews,
Vogue,
28 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Medal reallocations have historically surfaced after doping or other cheating cases, but Chiles’ dispute centered on an apparent error by the International Gymnastics Federation, the sport’s governing body.—
Chantz Martin,
FOXNews.com,
30 Jan. 2026
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Elevated prices though have narrowed the margin for error.—
Lee Ying Shan,
CNBC,
30 Jan. 2026
Noun
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An open-air courtyard centers around a fountain, while the legendary pool—at 23,000 square feet, one of the largest hotel pools in the country and the largest on the East Coast—stretches beneath palms like something from a Gatsby daydream.—
Lisa A. Beach,
Southern Living,
23 Jan. 2026
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Bob Weir, the singer, songwriter, guitarist, and co-founder of the Grateful Dead, whose songs about sunshine daydreams and truckin’ helped turn the jam band into a 60-year musical empire, has died at age 78.—
Richard Gehr,
Rolling Stone,
10 Jan. 2026
Noun
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To hear about a mass shooting in another city is to feel one is at the periphery of ongoing history; but perversely, to live near the site of a shooting is to feel nothing has changed except that unreality has come closer.—
Karan Mahajan,
New Yorker,
15 Dec. 2025
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In giving each of its characters new foils, the unreality of the show finally takes off.—
Fran Hoepfner,
Vulture,
24 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Illusion.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/illusion. Accessed 31 Jan. 2026.
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