phantasmagoria

American  

[fan-taz-muh-gawr-ee-uh, -gohr-] / fænˌtæz məˈgɔr i ə, -ˈgoʊr- /

noun

1. a shifting series of phantasms, illusions, or deceptive appearances, as in a dream or as created by the imagination.

2. a changing scene made up of many elements.

3. an optical illusion produced by a magic lantern or the like in which figures increase or diminish in size, pass into each other, dissolve, etc.

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phantasmagoria British  

/ ˌfæntæzməˈɡɒrɪk, ˌfæntæzməˈɡɔːrɪə, fænˈtæzməɡərɪ /

noun

1. psychol a shifting medley of real or imagined figures, as in a dream

2. films a sequence of pictures made to vary in size rapidly while remaining in focus

3. rare a shifting scene composed of different elements

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Other Word Forms

• phantasmagorial adjective
• phantasmagorian adjective
• phantasmagoric adjective
• phantasmagorically adverb
• phantasmagorist noun

Etymology

Origin of phantasmagoria

1795–1805; < French fantasmagorie, compound based on fantasme phantasm; second element perhaps representing Greek agorá assembly, gathering; -ia

Example Sentences

A high point for polished yet hirsute L.A. rock: The Eagles’ Hollywood phantasmagoria is named record of the year the same night Fleetwood Mac wins the album prize with the darkly glittering “Rumours.”

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 31, 2025

For me, that phantasmagoria included years of nightmares that jolted me awake.

From Slate • Jun. 4, 2023

Somewhere in the middle of the swirling phantasmagoria that is the play “On Set With Theda Bara,” indeed one will.

From New York Times • Feb. 5, 2023

So, the dominant artistic mode is phantasmagoria, in which the world seems surreal and disjointed, like the old joke about history: It’s just one thing after another.

From Washington Post • Jan. 12, 2023

If we could only juxtapose one eyeball of this sanctified woman and a television tube, both being roughly of the same shape and design, what a phantasmagoria of exploding electrodes would occur.

From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole