hallucinate
Americanverb (used without object)
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to see or hear things that do not exist outside the mind; have hallucinations.
People who ingested this fungus often hallucinated, seeing colored lights or hearing voices.
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Computers, Digital Technology. (of a machine learning program) to produce false information contrary to the intent of the user and present it as if true and factual.
verb (used with object)
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to see or hear (things that do not exist outside the mind); have hallucinations about.
In dramatic moments, the character hallucinates a very funny animated bear.
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Archaic. to affect with hallucinations.
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of hallucinate
First recorded in 1595–1605; from Latin hallūcinātus “wandered mentally” past participle of hallūcinārī, variant of (h)ālūcinārī “to dream, talk idly, wander mentally”
Explanation
To hallucinate is to see or hear something that's not really there. If you hallucinate, it's a bit like dreaming while being awake. When someone hallucinates, what they're perceiving seems very real and vivid, although it's not. Many different things can cause a person to hallucinate, including drugs, mental illness, damage to the brain, and even lack of adequate sleep. Some people hallucinate regularly, if mildly, just as they're falling asleep at night. The original meaning of hallucinate was "deceive," from the Latin hallucinatus, "wander in the mind."
Vocabulary lists containing hallucinate
The Marvels
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Ungifted
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The Legend of Auntie Po
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Break My Heart was mashed up with Justice's Dance, while Hallucinate was embellished with elements of Daft Punk's Technologic.
From BBC • Apr. 15, 2022
Choreographer Charm La'Donna, who worked on this year's Super Bowl half-time show, riffed on Bob Fosse's chair routines during Hallucinate, and brought New York Warehouse vibes to the dance hit Electricity.
From BBC • Apr. 15, 2022
While making her album Future Nostalgia, Dua Lipa had conceived the song Hallucinate, a shimmering slice of disco with a rippling chorus made for a mass singalong, as the centrepiece of her live set.
From The Guardian • Jul. 16, 2020
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
