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
Costume designer Paul Tazewell, who collaborated with Thom Browne on Janelle Monáe’s optical illusion dress and designed Chappell Roan’s pink suit, benefited from online discussions.
—
Renan Botelho, Footwear News, 12 May 2025
There's also an optical illusions section that can be fun for children who like to be perplexed.
—Anna Halkidis, Parents, 19 Apr. 2025
My favorite bits with him are his office decorations, frankly—the rabbit/duck optical illusion statue, showing his mutable nature, and the iceberg poster, hinting at hidden depths.
—Ars Technica, 25 Mar. 2025
This stunning image by the Hubble Space Telescope contains an optical illusion.
—Robert Z. Pearlman, Space.com, 24 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for optical illusion
Renan Botelho, Footwear News, 12 May 2025
There's also an optical illusions section that can be fun for children who like to be perplexed.
—Anna Halkidis, Parents, 19 Apr. 2025
My favorite bits with him are his office decorations, frankly—the rabbit/duck optical illusion statue, showing his mutable nature, and the iceberg poster, hinting at hidden depths.
—Ars Technica, 25 Mar. 2025
This stunning image by the Hubble Space Telescope contains an optical illusion.
—Robert Z. Pearlman, Space.com, 24 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for optical illusion
Recent Examples of Synonyms for optical illusion
Noun
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The entire spectacle is, of course, a line-of-sight illusion — all three objects extremely far from each other.—
Jamie Carter,
Forbes.com,
20 June 2025
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And if anyone was naive enough to imagine the U.S.-led tournament in 2026 would be free of such political baggage, then surely the increasingly public proximity of the Trump-Infantino relationship has dispelled those illusions.—
Oliver Kay,
New York Times,
20 June 2025
Noun
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Houston is really high on Udoka, so this may seem like a pipe dream.—
Ricardo Klein,
MSNBC Newsweek,
4 June 2025
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Making changes like this can be difficult because estranged parents often don’t realize how important being on the same page is for their children so making such changes seems like a pipe dream.—
Jann Blackstone,
Boston Herald,
1 June 2025
Noun
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But the 2025 apparition of Mars has been one of the poorer and more distant ones in the planet's 15-to-17-year cycle of oppositions near and far.—
Joe Rao,
Space.com,
13 June 2025
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There also might be a few Netflix apparitions, like the would-be Nancy Meyers comeback rom-com.—
Mia Galuppo,
HollywoodReporter,
12 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Optical illusion.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/optical%20illusion. Accessed 2 Jul. 2025.
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