hallucination

[ huh-loo-suh-ney-shuhn ]
See synonyms for hallucination on Thesaurus.com
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.

  2. the sensation caused by a hallucinatory condition, or the object or scene visualized.

  1. a false notion, belief, or impression; illusion; delusion.

  2. 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.

Origin of hallucination

1
First recorded in 1640–50; from Latin hallūcinātiōn-, stem of hallūcinātiō, variant of (h)ālūcinātiō, “a wandering of the mind”; hallucinate + -ion

synonym study For hallucination

1. See illusion.

Other words for hallucination

Other words from hallucination

  • hal·lu·ci·na·tion·al, hal·lu·ci·na·tive [huh-loo-suh-ney-tiv, -nuh-tiv], /həˈlu səˌneɪ tɪv, -nə tɪv/, adjective
  • non·hal·lu·ci·na·tion, noun

Words that may be confused with hallucination

Words Nearby hallucination

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use hallucination in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for hallucination

hallucination

/ (həˌluːsɪˈneɪʃən) /


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

Derived forms of hallucination

  • hallucinational, hallucinative or hallucinatory, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for hallucination

hallucination

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.)

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.