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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Example Sentences
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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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In those meetings, our would-be bosses told us to make mock phone calls to prospective clients to gauge our ability to convince strangers about the merit of an imaginary product.—
Snigdha Poonam,
The Dial,
28 Oct. 2025
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Each one was built by a Ramona family, less to keep away any errant birds from imaginary crops at the Grange parking lot, but more to celebrate fall and enjoy a family collaboration.—
Regina Elling,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
28 Oct. 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
-
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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The whole setup is an ideal literary playground for Lockhart, who weaves wealth, intrigue, and the power of teen emotions into an immersive and atmospheric narrative.—
Caroline Carlson,
Literary Hub,
3 Nov. 2025
-
Lee had wanted to make a film set in the world of kabuki, the classical form of Japanese theater that dates back to the 17th century, for more than a decade, and found the ideal text to adapt from in Shuichi Yoshida’s novel of the same name.—
David Canfield,
HollywoodReporter,
3 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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On the surface, the glorious black-and-white concoction, which had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival last May, tells the (mostly imagined) story of the making of Jean-Luc Godard’s epoch-defining 1960 movie, Breathless.—
Tomris Laffly,
Vogue,
23 Oct. 2025
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The rules of fiction require me to do this indirectly, constructing a narrator—whether a character or an imagined voice—to deliver the text at hand.—
Vauhini Vara,
The Atlantic,
16 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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This funny tale of unlikely heroism can be enjoyed either as a read-aloud or as a confidence booster for newly independent readers.—
Caroline Carlson,
Literary Hub,
3 Nov. 2025
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In a new investigation, the New Yorker staff writer Ava Kofman reports from the small town of Yemassee, South Carolina, about the macaque mass exodus—which fuelled an unlikely alliance between animal-rights proponents and the MAGA movement.—
David Remnick,
New Yorker,
3 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Illusory.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/illusory. Accessed 6 Nov. 2025.
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