as in illusion
an image that tricks a person's vision
Some may dismiss what we witnessed that night as an optical illusion, but we firmly believe it was a UFO.
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Recent Examples of optical illusion
Back in November 2023, the Oscar winner chatted with Kylie Jenner for Interview magazine and denied cosmetic enhancement speculations by crediting her makeup artist for his optical illusion glam.
—
Michelle Lee, PEOPLE, 27 Oct. 2025
The wingspan on Yesavage’s 6-foot-4 frame creates an optical illusion for hitters.
—Andy McCullough, New York Times, 25 Oct. 2025
Stitching with contour placement also add an optical illusion to jeans.
—Angela Velasquez, Sourcing Journal, 21 Oct. 2025
Rag & Bone’s revolutionary printing technique, Miramar, creates an optical illusion that makes any material look like denim.
—Rosie Marder, Travel + Leisure, 17 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for optical illusion
Michelle Lee, PEOPLE, 27 Oct. 2025
The wingspan on Yesavage’s 6-foot-4 frame creates an optical illusion for hitters.
—Andy McCullough, New York Times, 25 Oct. 2025
Stitching with contour placement also add an optical illusion to jeans.
—Angela Velasquez, Sourcing Journal, 21 Oct. 2025
Rag & Bone’s revolutionary printing technique, Miramar, creates an optical illusion that makes any material look like denim.
—Rosie Marder, Travel + Leisure, 17 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for optical illusion
Recent Examples of Synonyms for optical illusion
Noun
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Suburbia offered the illusion of moral purity, deepening social segregation as highways allowed a quick access to and from the city centre.—
Fahad Zuberi,
Time,
5 Nov. 2025
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All one had to do would be to rethink what removals are for (or shake off any post-substitutionist illusions about it).—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
5 Nov. 2025
Noun
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Expecting it to be now seems like a pipe dream.—
Jace Frederick,
Twin Cities,
17 Oct. 2025
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Dozens of companies are now competing to make the world’s first viable humanoid robot, convinced that recent advances in AI have made what was once a pipe dream into achievable reality.—
Billy Perrigo,
Time,
14 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Fettel is present as a ghostly apparition.—
Will Borger,
Rolling Stone,
31 Oct. 2025
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Pulse is a ghost story, featuring two interwoven storylines about young Tokyoites who begin to see and hear strange apparitions flitting across their computer screens.—
Katie Rife,
Entertainment Weekly,
29 Oct. 2025
Noun
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The standard choices presented to us—reason versus superstition, progress versus barbarism, past versus future, space versus Earth, growth versus stasis—were always chimeras.—
Paul Kingsnorth,
Harpers Magazine,
19 Sep. 2025
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Trump’s yearning after a Nobel Peace Prize is no secret—Israel, Pakistan, and Cambodia have nominated him so far—and Lee may use that chimera to keep Trump onside.—
Charlie Campbell,
Time,
17 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Optical illusion.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/optical%20illusion. Accessed 11 Nov. 2025.
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