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 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 The resulting feature is enigmatic and lightly campy, strange and hallucinatory, taking place in a liminal futuristic city that’s clogged with thick mist and terrorized by a violent serial killer named Leather Man. — Rachel Handler, Vulture, 18 May 2026 See All Example Sentences for hallucinatory

Recent Examples of Synonyms for hallucinatory

Adjective

With an abundance of genre-crossing indulgences that are scary, surreal, and sometimes silly, the Paramount+ hit is operating at full warp speed in this penultimate outing, the debut episode of which just premiered on July 23, 2026.

— Jeff Spry, Space.com, 24 July 2026
Painterly compositions, operatic violence, and surreal emotional logic overwhelm the audience in twisted worlds that overwhelm first and explain second.

— Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 24 July 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

Conversations need grounding as intuitive Moon in your 3rd House of Communication opposes illusory Neptune in your 9th House of Travel and Learning, so facts and visions compete.

— Tarot.com, Sun Sentinel, 22 June 2026
That is, real, not merely illusory, measures, so that the allure to breach peace for imagined gains is overshadowed.

— Keith Tidman, Baltimore Sun, 15 June 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

Its Escape to Moominvalley exhibition, open through October 2026, examines how architecture, home and landscape shaped the imaginary world created by Finnish artist and author Tove Jansson.

— David Nikel, Forbes.com, 21 July 2026
Anyway, Will Venable has my imaginary vote, though Mike Vasil's wizardry might be the bigger reason why the White Sox are rolling.

— Andy McCullough, New York Times, 17 July 2026

Definition of imaginary

Adjective

But the samurai genre already presupposes a fictitious otherworldly place, and everyday normalcy simply doesn’t exist there, Kurosawa said.

— ABC News, ABC News, 29 July 2026
Here are three fictitious, but realistic, examples that reflect how different promotions may work.

— Louis DeNicola, Forbes.com, 28 July 2026

Definition of fictitious

Adjective

It is set in Mano Majra, a fictional village on the new frontier between India and Pakistan, where Sikh and Muslim families have lived together peacefully for generations.

— Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 29 July 2026
Joanne Miller is a fictional agent who in the film leads the manhunt for the adult Ted and uses the words in the Unabomber’s manifesto to track him down.

— Brian Truitt, USA Today, 29 July 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 1 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of hallucinatory

adjective

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