as in imaginary
formal
based on something that is not true or real; based on an illusion
an illusory hope an illusory sense of security
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Recent Examples of illusory
But even if that purported lunar companion proves illusory, this new method of tracking down mysterious sources of unexplained material around giant exoplanets could become a definitive pathway for future exomoon finds.
—
Nola Taylor Tillman, Scientific American, 13 Oct. 2025
Yet these successes were at best partial, and perhaps illusory.
—Jennifer Kavanagh, Foreign Affairs, 30 Sep. 2025
Everyone has their own analogy to describe Labour’s illusory power.
—Sam Knight, New Yorker, 21 Sep. 2025
Any thought of stability is illusory; no patch of molecules dances in isolation.
—Joseph Howlett, Quanta Magazine, 15 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for illusory
Nola Taylor Tillman, Scientific American, 13 Oct. 2025
Yet these successes were at best partial, and perhaps illusory.
—Jennifer Kavanagh, Foreign Affairs, 30 Sep. 2025
Everyone has their own analogy to describe Labour’s illusory power.
—Sam Knight, New Yorker, 21 Sep. 2025
Any thought of stability is illusory; no patch of molecules dances in isolation.
—Joseph Howlett, Quanta Magazine, 15 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for illusory
Recent Examples of Synonyms for illusory
Adjective
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One way to represent a complex number like a + ib is as a point on a plane, where a is the position on the x-axis (which can be thought of as the real number line) and b is the position on an imaginary y-axis.—
Daniel Garisto,
Quanta Magazine,
7 Nov. 2025
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For example, the tests measure AI’s ability to fix inconsistencies in customer invoices Excel spreadsheets for an imaginary sales analyst role, or AI’s ability to create a full production schedule for a 60-second video shoot for an imaginary video producer.—
Jared Perlo,
NBC news,
6 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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Drake Maye, the third overall pick in 2024, is playing unreal football right now after connecting on 21 of 23 passes to beat the Titans 31-13 last week.—
Luca Evans,
Denver Post,
25 Oct. 2025
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Dohnányi, after no end of rigorous rehearsal, obtained a collective sound of unreal, flabbergasting clarity.—
Alex Ross,
New Yorker,
21 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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With a dynamic mix of heritage buildings, Roman ruins and bustling markets, the area offers an authentic Middle Eastern urban backdrop, with the Citadel and Roman Theater — both rising above the city’s layered streets — also ideal for both period and contemporary shoots.—
Rafa Sales Ross,
Variety,
10 Nov. 2025
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Caesar and Coca were soon joined on the show by the diminutive Howard Morris, whom Caesar could hoist from the ground and glare at face to face, and by Carl Reiner, tall like Caesar but as happy as Sid was miserable—the ideal second banana.—
David Denby,
New Yorker,
10 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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Both blend horrific imagery in the real and imagined world, however.—
Eric Vilas-Boas,
Vulture,
31 Oct. 2025
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Yet politicians often effectively leverage fears to garner votes, and companies routinely market unnecessary products that promise protection from imagined or exaggerated harms.—
Kurt Snibbe,
Oc Register,
24 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Peter [Merry] likes to use is that, when a caterpillar is becoming a butterfly, new ‘imaginal cells’ emerge.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
7 Aug. 2025
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With one technique, for example—called imaginal exposure—you might be asked to visualize the process of going to the airport, boarding the plane, and experiencing a bad bout of turbulence.—
Angela Haupt,
TIME,
10 May 2024
Adjective
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These reasons alone might be sufficient for those who hold the shares to consider taking profits or selling some of the upside option premium, anticipating that additional upside in the near term is unlikely.—
Michael Khouw,
CNBC,
10 Nov. 2025
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After all, Butler’s own success—as a child of a Black family that moved West from Jim Crow Louisiana during the Great Migration—would have been considered very unlikely at the moment of her birth.—
Vann R. Newkirk II,
The Atlantic,
10 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Illusory.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/illusory. Accessed 20 Nov. 2025.
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