hallucination

[ huh-loo-suh-ney-shuhn ]

noun

1. a sensory experience of something that does not exist outside the mind, caused by various physical and mental disorders, or by reaction to certain toxic substances, and usually manifested as visual or auditory images.

   Synonyms: aberration, phantasm

2. the sensation caused by a hallucinatory condition, or the object or scene visualized.
3. a false notion, belief, or impression; illusion; delusion.
4. Computers, Digital Technology. (in the field of machine learning) false information generated by a machine learning program contrary to the intent of the user and presented as if it were true and factual.

hallucination

/ həˌluːsɪˈneɪʃən /

noun

1. the alleged perception of an object when no object is present, occurring under hypnosis, in some mental disorders, etc

hallucination

1. A false perception that appears to be real, as when, for example, a man dying of thirst in a desert thinks that he sees a lake. ( See also delusion .)

Derived Forms

• halˌluciˈnational, adjective

Other Words From

• hal·lu·ci·na·tion·al hal·lu·ci·na·tive [h, uh, -, loo, -s, uh, -ney-tiv, -n, uh, -tiv], adjective
• non·hal·lu·ci·na·tion noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of hallucination¹

First recorded in 1640–50; from Latin hallūcinātiōn-, stem of hallūcinātiō, variant of (h)ālūcinātiō, “a wandering of the mind”; hallucinate + -ion

Synonym Study

See illusion.

Example Sentences

How can we taxonomize their experience, and differentiate it from hallucination, or psychotic break?

From The Daily Beast

The hallucination is visually incoherent, either a rough approximation of text or a random assemblage of letters.

From The Daily Beast

It's confusing at times; what's real and what's a hallucination isn't always clear.

From The Daily Beast

But this is yet another hallucination, because, in fact, they don't.

From The Daily Beast

The whole thing is played completely straight, with no sign that it is a dream sequence, hallucination, or break from reality.

From The Daily Beast

The little maid calls him Drac, identifies the flower in his hand, and lives on in this hallucination.

From Project Gutenberg

But even this great marvel seemed natural in comparison with the singular hallucination to which I was presently subjected.

From Project Gutenberg

I questioned him more fully than I had ever done, with a view to making myself master of the facts of his hallucination.

From Project Gutenberg

She had a sentimental hallucination as other people have a physical one.

From Project Gutenberg

It seems as if the young man was under the hallucination of his fever?

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• illusion
• phantom