phantasmagoric

American  

[fan-taz-muh-gawr-ik, -gor-] / fænˌtæz məˈgɔr ɪk, -ˈgɒr- /

Also phantasmagorical sometimes phantasmagorial

adjective

1. having a fantastic or deceptive appearance, as something in a dream or created by the imagination.

2. having the appearance of an optical illusion, especially one produced by a magic lantern.

3. changing or shifting, as a scene made up of many elements.

---

Other Word Forms

• phantasmagorially adverb
• phantasmagorianly adverb
• phantasmagorically adverb

Etymology

Origin of phantasmagoric

First recorded in 1800–10; phantasmagor(ia) ( def. ) + -ic ( def. )

Example Sentences

It certainly bests the phantasmagoric desert full of sandworms.

From Salon • Sep. 15, 2024

Brennan: Your mention of Dylan brings us to terrain I’m better equipped to handle than a case of epididymitis run amok: The film’s phantasmagoric dogpile of cinematic, cultural and political points of reference.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 19, 2023

If this, let alone her vomiting, feels too literal, the astonishing projections by Yee Eun Nam are almost phantasmagoric in their abstraction.

From New York Times • Jan. 25, 2022

But here I was, trapped in the phantasmagoric clash between expectation and reality, standing next to a man in a handmade hazmat suit who held in his gloved hand a '90s camcorder.

From Salon • Jan. 6, 2022

He must plunge into that phantasmagoric city; he must fly from haunt to haunt; he must drag the depths of every small hell; he must find her to-night.

From Sinister Street, vol. 2 by MacKenzie, Compton