as in saw
to see or sense something or someone that is not really there; to have hallucinations
The patient may hallucinate if she has a fever.
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Recent Examples of hallucinated
The report was riddled with fake citations that appeared to be hallucinated by AI, which the White House attributed to formatting errors; HHS then corrected the report by removing the false citations and swapping in new references.
—
Matteo Wong, The Atlantic, 13 Feb. 2026
Sonatype’s research found that GPT-5 hallucinated nearly 28% of component versions and, without real-time intelligence, even recommended malware.
—Tony Bradley, Forbes.com, 28 Jan. 2026
The weather was accurate but the towns were hallucinated by the computer program.
—Krista Kafer, Denver Post, 25 Jan. 2026
And that’s assuming ChatGPT hasn’t hallucinated anything.
—ArsTechnica, 30 Oct. 2025
Regardless, the guides require reading comprehension skills and don’t offer random, hallucinated, or uncited thoughts about the text.
—Joelle Renstrom
august 28, Literary Hub, 28 Aug. 2025
Zane Wach, 14, hallucinated and walked off a cliff while climbing Mount Whitney in Northern California on June 10.
—Abigail Adams, People.com, 18 Aug. 2025
For example, the o3 and o4 reasoning models that came out in April hallucinated more than their predecessors, TechCrunch reports.
—Emily Forlini, PC Magazine, 8 Aug. 2025
The problem was, the AI hallucinated several court cases—complete with fake citations and judges.
—Jj Rosen, Nashville Tennessean, 13 Apr. 2025
Matteo Wong, The Atlantic, 13 Feb. 2026
Sonatype’s research found that GPT-5 hallucinated nearly 28% of component versions and, without real-time intelligence, even recommended malware.
—Tony Bradley, Forbes.com, 28 Jan. 2026
The weather was accurate but the towns were hallucinated by the computer program.
—Krista Kafer, Denver Post, 25 Jan. 2026
And that’s assuming ChatGPT hasn’t hallucinated anything.
—ArsTechnica, 30 Oct. 2025
Regardless, the guides require reading comprehension skills and don’t offer random, hallucinated, or uncited thoughts about the text.
—Joelle Renstrom
august 28, Literary Hub, 28 Aug. 2025
Zane Wach, 14, hallucinated and walked off a cliff while climbing Mount Whitney in Northern California on June 10.
—Abigail Adams, People.com, 18 Aug. 2025
For example, the o3 and o4 reasoning models that came out in April hallucinated more than their predecessors, TechCrunch reports.
—Emily Forlini, PC Magazine, 8 Aug. 2025
The problem was, the AI hallucinated several court cases—complete with fake citations and judges.
—Jj Rosen, Nashville Tennessean, 13 Apr. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hallucinated
Verb
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Ruggeri says that, in comparison to saw palmetto, which gets far more attention.—
Adam Hurly,
Robb Report,
19 Feb. 2026
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During the trial, jurors learned about grim Google searches Brian had made after his wife died, including how to saw a body and how to clean blood off of wood floors.—
Nicole Acosta,
PEOPLE,
18 Dec. 2025
Verb
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Whale, and later fellow directors Franc Rodman, Branagh and now Gyllenhaal, imagined what might have happened if Frankenstein had completed the female monster.—
Leah Dolan,
CNN Money,
6 Mar. 2026
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Along with co-founder Kyle Chayka, now of The New Yorker, Alioto first imagined Dirt as a moment-meeting entertainment brand that brooks very little techno-pessimism.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
5 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
The former leftists who dreamed of spreading democracy at the barrel of a gun, after all, were only one part of the neocon movement.—
Michelle Goldberg,
Mercury News,
4 Mar. 2026
-
After October 7, 2023, the Israeli assassination campaign against leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah revealed lethal intelligence capabilities that could only have been dreamed of in the predigital Cold War.—
Tim Naftali,
The Atlantic,
3 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
The charter school’s venture into higher education began in 2011 with Vincent Pena, an accomplished student who contemplated dropping out of school.—
Carole Carlson,
Chicago Tribune,
2 Mar. 2026
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The property is just south of the former Columbine Shopping Center, which was demolished in 2018 and has been contemplated for redevelopment for decades.—
Matthew Geiger,
Denver Post,
24 Feb. 2026
Verb
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The new sound became a global fad, even in the locales that exotica artists fantasized about.—
H.D. Angel,
Pitchfork,
7 Jan. 2026
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In this scenario, Eleven got away and traveled somewhere safe — someplace with multiple waterfalls, just like the ones Mike fantasized about for them.—
Nick Romano,
Entertainment Weekly,
1 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Some teachers and staff were concerned about losing their doctors when DPS pondered ending its 52 year relationship with Kaiser Permanente.—
Jesse Sarles,
CBS News,
21 Feb. 2026
-
Moe pondered this for half a second.—
Sean Keeler,
Denver Post,
18 Feb. 2026
Verb
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From his dorm in tiny Sterling, Colorado, Ondrej Vank visualized his plan of attack against the world’s greatest player.—
Kyle Newman,
Denver Post,
2 Mar. 2026
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The firm’s plan sought to build on that identity with a plan that visualized what Calle Ocho could look like — if cars did not dominate the wide, three-lane, one-way street.—
Sherrilyn Cabrera,
Miami Herald,
16 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Hallucinated.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hallucinated. Accessed 9 Mar. 2026.
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