hallucinatory

adjective

hal·​lu·​ci·​na·​to·​ry hə-ˈlü-sə-nə-ˌtȯr-ē How to pronounce hallucinatory (audio)
-ˈlüs-nə-
1
: tending to produce hallucination
hallucinatory drugs
2
: resembling, involving, or being a hallucination
hallucinatory dreams
a hallucinatory figure

Examples of hallucinatory in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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.
Instead, his hallucinatory drama explores themes like Black assimilation, imperial white oppression, eroticism, and the uneasy relationship between religion and power. Jordan Crucchiola, Vulture, 26 Apr. 2025 When the deadline for such a sale initially arrived earlier this year, American TikTok users had the hallucinatory experience of losing access to the app … for 14 hours. Kaitlyn Tiffany, The Atlantic, 4 Apr. 2025 Set in 1970's Vietnam, the film follows Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) on a perilous and increasingly hallucinatory upriver journey to find and terminate Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando), a once-promising officer who his superiors believe has gone completely mad. Shania Russell, EW.com, 3 Apr. 2025 If the Lubavitcher community had been struck by something on the scale of the Judeans’ loss of the Temple and their enslavement, what are now marginal, hallucinatory visions of the rebbe would almost certainly take on a more declarative, redemptive form. Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 24 Mar. 2025 See All Example Sentences for hallucinatory

Word History

First Known Use

1830, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of hallucinatory was in 1830

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Hallucinatory.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hallucinatory. Accessed 19 May. 2025.

Kids Definition

hallucinatory

adjective
hal·​lu·​ci·​na·​to·​ry hə-ˈlü-sə-nə-ˌtōr-ē How to pronounce hallucinatory (audio)
-ˌtȯr-
1
: tending to produce hallucinations
2
: resembling, involving, or being a hallucination

Medical Definition

hallucinatory

adjective
hal·​lu·​ci·​na·​to·​ry hə-ˈlüs-ᵊn-ə-ˌtōr-ē, -ˈlüs-nə-, -ˌtȯr- How to pronounce hallucinatory (audio)
1
: tending to produce hallucinations
hallucinatory drugs
2
: resembling, involving, or being a hallucination
hallucinatory dreams
a hallucinatory figure
hallucinatorily adverb

More from Merriam-Webster on hallucinatory

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