fly agaric

noun

Definition of fly agaric

: a medium to large poisonous amanita mushroom (Amanita muscaria) with a usually bright red cap

Examples of fly agaric in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web My favorites are fly agaric mushrooms, with white stalks and bright red tops. — National Geographic, 5 Nov. 2020 Historians have long assumed that fly agaric, a hallucinogenic mushroom, was the berserkers’ drug of choice. — National Geographic, 11 Feb. 2020 One of the more hotly contested hypotheses is that the berserkers ingested a hallucinogenic mushroom (Amanita muscaria), commonly known as fly agaric, just before battle to induce their trancelike state. — Jennifer Ouellette, Wired, 21 Sep. 2019 One of the more hotly contested hypotheses is that the berserkers ingested a hallucinogenic mushroom (Amanita muscaria), commonly known as fly agaric, just before battle to induce their trance-like state. — Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 18 Sep. 2019 Reindeer historically have tripped on them too, and in some places fly agaric has even been associated with Christmas. — Joanna Klein, New York Times, 17 Oct. 2017 Recently mushroom hunters and nature lovers have been sharing photos of their fly agaric finds on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. — Joanna Klein, New York Times, 17 Oct. 2017 The fly agaric is the quintessential mushroom of fairy tales. — Joanna Klein, New York Times, 17 Oct. 2017 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'fly agaric.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Buying Guide

Grow your own mushrooms with kits recommended by our Reviews team.

Learn More About fly agaric

Dictionary Entries Near fly agaric

fly-about

fly agaric

fly anchor

Statistics for fly agaric

Cite this Entry

“Fly agaric.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fly%20agaric. Accessed 19 May. 2022.

Style: MLA

MLA

Chicago

APA

Merriam-Webster Check Mark Icon

More Definitions for fly agaric

fly agaric

noun

Medical Definition of fly agaric

: a poisonous mushroom of the genus Amanita (A. muscaria) that has a variably colored but typically bright-red pileus with a warty white scurf on the surface that with the related death cap is responsible for most cases of severe mushroom poisoning, that has been used as a source of poison for flypaper, and that is extensively used chiefly in northeastern Asia as an intoxicant especially for the hallucinatory effects that it produces

— called also fly amanita, fly mushroom