hallucinatory
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
- nonhallucinatory adjective
- unhallucinatory adjective
Etymology
Origin of hallucinatory
First recorded in 1820–30; hallucinate + -ory 1
Explanation
Something that's hallucinatory appears dreamlike or unreal. If you think you see your cat and dog having a tea party at midnight, feel free to describe it as a hallucinatory sight. If you sense something hallucinatory, it's either not really there — it's an actual hallucination, an illusory perception — or it's as dreamlike or fantastic as a hallucination. You could describe strange dreams, surreal art, and bizarre movies as hallucinatory, for example. Hallucinatory comes from hallucinate, which originally meant "deceive," from the Latin hallucinatus, "wander in the mind."
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.
Rather than recapitulate historical chronicles, Mr. Enrigue imagines the event from the Aztec point of view, creating an account that is gory, hallucinatory and thrilling in its strangeness.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 5, 2026
The scene turns surreal with camera distortion and zoom shots to convey his hallucinatory point of view.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 22, 2025
Luke said on some occasions, his hallucinatory flashbacks would come about while he was instructing new recruits.
From BBC • Feb. 2, 2025
The guest star roster expands this season, looping in Gwendoline Christie, John Noble, Merritt Wever and Alia Shawkat, among others, blending them into the show’s hallucinatory starkness without drawing us out of the story.
From Salon • Jan. 17, 2025
The literature of Everest is rife with accounts of hallucinatory experiences attributable to hypoxia and fatigue.
From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer
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.
