HALLUCINATORY Synonyms: 74 Similar and Opposite Words

hallucinatory

adjective

Definition of hallucinatory

as in surreal

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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.

Recent Examples of hallucinatory Such hallucinatory citations are, according to judges and lawyers, troubling at a variety of levels, including for their threat to the integrity of the judicial system. — Staff Report, Hartford Courant, 26 June 2026 Unlike Magazine Dreams, the modest but satisfying Test avoids the lurid descent into violent psychodrama that swerved into hallucinatory Taxi Driver territory and undercut that film’s integrity. — David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 16 June 2026 What results is a hallucinatory exploration of power, control, desire, and — that hottest of fascinated feelings right now — obsession. — Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 3 June 2026 Some of the poet’s most hallucinatory imagery seeps through the corners of the screen. — Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 2 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for hallucinatory

Recent Examples of Synonyms for hallucinatory

Adjective

Watching a giant blue bull move through the Nevada desert feels surreal, and with Ukrainian collaborators building it, the piece strongly shows cultural identity and resilience.

— Jim Dobson, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2026
Ballet served as the starting point, with its codes translated across footwear and apparel into a more expansive, surreal sphere.

— Jaden Thompson, Footwear News, 28 Aug. 2026

Definition of surreal

Adjective

Over the course of one phantasmagoric evening, Robin witnesses events that prefigure the Revolutionary War.

— John Swansburg, The Atlantic, 15 June 2026
Right around that time, the Venice Film Festival saw Mamoru Hosoda’s anime epic Scarlet, in which the Danish prince became an ass-kicking Danish princess consigned to a hellish and phantasmagoric underworld.

— Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 14 Apr. 2026

Definition of phantasmagoric

Adjective

Until there is agreement on which share count and which components of enterprise value belong in these calculations, comparability across companies is illusory, and the sector now includes well over a hundred public issuers of very different sizes.

— Sean Stein Smith, Forbes.com, 21 Aug. 2026
Instead, Brew believes an ultimate compromise would mean Iran making an illusory comparison to the Strait of Malacca where there is a smaller, voluntary fee system for services rendered and maintenance.

— Jordan Blum, Fortune, 12 Aug. 2026

Definition of illusory

Adjective

This isn’t callousness or delusive optimism but, rather, a rebellion against the suffocating expectation that the elderly have foreclosed the possibility of joy.

— Hillary Kelly, The New Yorker, 21 Feb. 2024
To separate art from its historical framework is futile, and to reject it in an effort to censor past violence is a delusive act of virtue signaling.

— WSJ, WSJ, 5 July 2022

Definition of delusive

Adjective

Out on a wooden platform extending over San Diego’s Mission Bay, young women sway from side to side, riding an imaginary wave to the beats.

— Kailyn Brown, Los Angeles Times, 21 Aug. 2026
Just before the pandemic, Manhattan’s MCC Theater staged a show called All the Natalie Portmans, about a gay Black teenage cinephile who envisions the actor as a kind of manic pixie imaginary friend.

— Hillary Busis, Vanity Fair, 17 Aug. 2026

Definition of imaginary

Adjective

Almost every great performer is at some point in their life delusional.

— Rachel Syme, New Yorker, 23 Aug. 2026
In February, Patrick Collison told TBPN there was a reasonable chance Q1 2026 would be remembered as the first quarter of the singularity, adding that in hindsight the claim might look completely delusional.

— Josipa Majic Predin, Forbes.com, 20 Aug. 2026

Definition of delusional

Adjective

The undercover analyst noted in a message that his fictitious 4-year-old brother would be home the next day, when the Perez meeting was expected.

— Emerson Clarridge, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 18 Aug. 2026
Final testing relied on fictitious data instead of the real records of millions of residents.

— Komal Goyal, Forbes.com, 12 Aug. 2026

Definition of fictitious

Adjective

The first season was filmed in Wales and set in the fictional North Wales village of Morfa Halen.

— Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 26 Aug. 2026
This is where the creation of the aforementioned fictional Barrow’s Green came about, which eventually came to life in the form of The Six Bells Inn.

— Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 26 Aug. 2026

Definition of fictional

Browse Nearby Words

hallucinations

hallucinatory

hallucinoses

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“Hallucinatory.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hallucinatory. Accessed 31 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of hallucinatory

adjective

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