as in sees
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 hallucinates
The most damaging by far is factual inconsistency, when an AI hallucinates and provides incorrect information.
—
Jerry Haywood, Forbes.com, 1 June 2026
So what if the compass hallucinates half the time?
—Caroline Rose Giuliani, New Yorker, 19 May 2026
Most notably, the line is crossed when AI hallucinates facts or strips away human voice.
—Rolling Stone Culture Council, Rolling Stone, 11 May 2026
Colby scrambles through someone else’s bag like way back in season two, and someone hallucinates beef jerky.
—Brian Moylan, Vulture, 5 Mar. 2026
When used in legal cases, AI hallucinates between 17% adn 82% of the time, Kjoller’s petition suggested.
—Sharon Bernstein, Sacbee.com, 7 Nov. 2025
Also, the scene where Pi hallucinates blindness and a talking Richard Parker (in French, oddly) is terrific.
—Rick Mauch, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 24 Sep. 2025
Jerry Haywood, Forbes.com, 1 June 2026
So what if the compass hallucinates half the time?
—Caroline Rose Giuliani, New Yorker, 19 May 2026
Most notably, the line is crossed when AI hallucinates facts or strips away human voice.
—Rolling Stone Culture Council, Rolling Stone, 11 May 2026
Colby scrambles through someone else’s bag like way back in season two, and someone hallucinates beef jerky.
—Brian Moylan, Vulture, 5 Mar. 2026
When used in legal cases, AI hallucinates between 17% adn 82% of the time, Kjoller’s petition suggested.
—Sharon Bernstein, Sacbee.com, 7 Nov. 2025
Also, the scene where Pi hallucinates blindness and a talking Richard Parker (in French, oddly) is terrific.
—Rick Mauch, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 24 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hallucinates
Verb
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When her mother’s former gallerist reaches out with the offer of a show in exchange for the series’ completion, Indigo sees it as a financial lifeline—and in the face of her mother’s staunch refusal, decides to finish the series herself.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
2 June 2026
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In an episode filled with tragic endings for various characters, including Rue herself, Faye sees some kind of hope on the horizon.—
David Canfield,
HollywoodReporter,
1 June 2026
Verb
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The bill also contemplates restrictions on coaches leaving their teams before the end of the season.—
Michael McCann,
Sportico.com,
27 May 2026
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Inspired by their connection, Étienne contemplates exchanging his lonely existence for one filled with romance, but with a demanding route to cover, starring in a great love story may not be in the cards for the hard-working road warrior.—
Elaina Patton,
IndieWire,
12 May 2026
Verb
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Humanoid robots wearing designer outfits walked alongside human models at a fashion show in Seoul this week, offering a glimpse into how South Korea’s technology industry imagines a future where robots are not just tools, but participants in everyday cultural life.—
Kaif Shaikh,
Interesting Engineering,
30 May 2026
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The Argentine writer’s short story, first published in 1941, imagines an infinite archive of books in which the alphabet has been configured into every possible combination, resulting in a limitless array of texts meaning everything and nothing.—
Raphael Helfand,
Pitchfork,
29 May 2026
Verb
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The side marketed as soft increasingly fantasizes about confrontation, while the side marketed as hard seeks protection and paternal dominance.—
Rachel Marsden,
Hartford Courant,
16 May 2026
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Frenza fantasizes about her visit to the post office, scene after scene, with unbridled delight.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
7 Apr. 2026
Verb
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As coach John Hynes ponders his Game 1 starter, the recent numbers will show that Wallstedt has allowed a total of four goals in his final two regular-season starts, while veteran Filip Gustavsson has been touched for 10 in the same span.—
Jess Myers,
Twin Cities,
15 Apr. 2026
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While Heinrich ponders the misfiring neurons in the brain of a mass shooter, Jack’s pursuit of Mink—a character whose skin color and ambiguous ethnicity Jack remarks on repeatedly—leads him directly into the urban teeth of the War on Drugs.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
1 Apr. 2026
Verb
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This kid just hit the biggest home run of his life — a moment every athlete dreams about — and the umps toss him?—
Zach Dean OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
1 June 2026
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Now compare that to a couple where one partner dreams of a life of travelling and adventure, while the other desperately wants rootedness and proximity to family.—
Mark Travers,
Forbes.com,
31 May 2026
Verb
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In a couple of fleetingly brilliant moments, the director visualizes characters' discombobulation with aggressive blurring and dizzying superimpositions.—
Wesley Stenzel,
Entertainment Weekly,
4 Apr. 2026
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In addition, the Artemis Real-time Orbit Website (AROW) visualizes exactly where Orion and the crew are using data collected by sensors on the craft and sent to the Mission Control Center at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.—
Pueng Vongs,
Mercury News,
3 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Hallucinates.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hallucinates. Accessed 5 Jun. 2026.
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