optical illusion

noun

plural optical illusions

: a misleading image presented to the vision

Zebras look like optical illusions to me. Which are they—black with white stripes or white with black stripes?

—Al Robinson

The sun, moon, and planets circle above the terrestrial plane in the region of the equator. Their apparent rising and setting is an optical illusion caused by atmospheric refraction …

—Ranger Rick

Examples of optical illusion in a Sentence

The closer building looks larger than the farther one, but it's just an optical illusion. The two buildings are actually the same size.

Recent Examples on the Web

Zoë Kravitz embraced optical illusion dressing in head-to-toe espresso brown at Paris Fashion Week on March 3. —Lara Walsh, InStyle, 3 Mar. 2026

In visual art, from Byzantine painting up through Renaissance painting, artists actually attempted to physically reproduce perspective, or at least an optical illusion of it. —Literary Hub, 27 Feb. 2026

Mercury retrograde is an optical illusion that astrologers believe carries significant energetic influence. —Faith Bugenhagen, Austin American Statesman, 26 Feb. 2026

Mercury retrograde is an optical illusion where the planet appears to move backward from Earth's perspective. —Tiffany Acosta, AZCentral.com, 26 Feb. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1763, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for optical illusion

• immunodiffusion
• allusion
• collusion
• conclusion
• confusion
• contusion
• delusion
• diffusion
• effusion
• exclusion
• extrusion
• inclusion

Kids Definition

optical illusion

noun

: illusion sense 1

Medical Definition

optical illusion

noun

: visual perception of a real object in such a way as to misinterpret its actual nature