phantasmagoric

variants or phantasmagorical
Definition of phantasmagoricnext

Example Sentences

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 phantasmagoric Today, the public district collection comprises some 35 large-scale murals, sculptures and installations, including the phantasmagoric exterior of its Museum Garage. Andres Viglucci, Miami Herald, 30 Nov. 2025 The Land of Spooks is a phantasmagorical blend of twisting gothic spires, impossible land formations, and disconcerting expressionist proportions. Kambole Campbell, IndieWire, 4 Nov. 2025 As the two keepers' accelerating madness batters their already uneasy relationship, the film becomes a phantasmagorical endurance test, with the two antagonistic leads hurling themselves against their tight confinement. Dennis Perkins, Entertainment Weekly, 31 Oct. 2025 The new film tries to connect its phantasmagorical elements to regular middle-class lives, but the attempt serves both aspects poorly. Richard Brody, New Yorker, 18 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for phantasmagoric
Adjective
  • Experimental musician Delia Beatriz pays homage to Mexican cumbia rebajada using digital processing to manipulate archival recordings into fields of warped texture and hallucinatory drone.
    Philip Sherburne, Pitchfork, 7 Jan. 2026
  • One scene involves Varang poisoning Quaritch with a mysterious hallucinatory drug that compels him to tell the truth about his motivations.
    Jack Smart, PEOPLE, 20 Dec. 2025
Adjective
  • The video depicts a surreal world where a young man begins seeing the colorful patterns and iconography, like Swedish fish and other candies, that dedicated Candy Crush players will no doubt recognize.
    Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 6 Nov. 2025
  • Combining the optimism of Don Quixote and Candide became the guide for my main character—an absolutely surreal, absurd optimist, who believes that even things way out of his league are possible for him.
    The New Yorker, New Yorker, 5 Nov. 2025
Adjective
  • Trump’s pursuit of an illusory sphere of influence is unlikely to bring us peace or prosperity—any more than the invasion of Ukraine brought peace and prosperity to Russians—and this might become clear sooner than anyone expects.
    Anne Applebaum, The Atlantic, 5 Jan. 2026
  • Time may be an absolute, but our measurements of it are illusory.
    Christian Wiman, Harpers Magazine, 30 Dec. 2025
Adjective
  • As players shoot around, Jake cradles a ball before blowing past an imaginary defender to hammer home a dunk.
    Mirin Fader, New York Times, 7 Jan. 2026
  • At the opening, Natalie, bored and filled with loathing for her parents, flees her family home by retreating into imaginary worlds of vivid, eroticized violence.
    Erin Somers, The Atlantic, 6 Jan. 2026
Adjective
  • Anmore and Fort Langley — to make up the fictional community.
    Emily Blackwood, PEOPLE, 8 Nov. 2025
  • SpringHill’s involvement signals a likely retention of the original’s format, with real sports stars playing themselves as clients of the fictional sports agency.
    Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 7 Nov. 2025
Adjective
  • Beyond that, all apparent structures are merely phantasmal.
    Big Think, Big Think, 27 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • In a white Ford Expedition with exempt plates and red emergency lights, Farzam stopped at a checkpoint manned by the National Guard on January 17 and presented a document showing the vehicle was registered to the fictitious Santa Muerte Fire Department, prosecutors said.
    Ray Sanchez, CNN Money, 2 Nov. 2025
  • The film is set in a version of America that, while fictitious, still feels distinctly American.
    Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 30 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • The fantasy of endless space is what matters, a great chimeric promise, this production understands, that both sustains the nation and goes unfulfilled.
    Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 16 Oct. 2025
  • Advertisement But this victory proved chimerical.
    Time, Time, 12 Sep. 2025

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Phantasmagoric.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/phantasmagoric. Accessed 10 Jan. 2026.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!