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. )

Explanation

Something phantasmagoric features wild and shifting images, colorful patterns that are continually moving and changing. The Greek word phantasma, meaning "image," is the ancestor of phantasmagoric, a word you can use to describe anything so weird it doesn't seem real. In the 1960's, the word was linked with psychedelic drugs that created illusions. This word can definitely apply to a movie with bizarre images, quickly changing scenes, and colors and music that are disorienting. If a romantic comedy suddenly includes werewolves and killer robots, it just became phantasmagoric. Anything phantasmagoric is extremely weird.

Example Sentences

It certainly bests the phantasmagoric desert full of sandworms.

From Salon • Sep. 15, 2024

Ali makes these sort of phantasmagoric horror films, in a way.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 2, 2024

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

For instance, her metatheatrical “King of the Yees” is a wryly phantasmagoric father-daughter tale set in a version of San Francisco’s Chinatown.

From Washington Post • Nov. 10, 2021

To her, especially, the whirl of society was confusing, phantasmagoric, and unreal.

From That Unfortunate Marriage, Vol. 1 by Trollope, Frances Eleanor