phantasmagoric
Americanadjective
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having a fantastic or deceptive appearance, as something in a dream or created by the imagination.
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having the appearance of an optical illusion, especially one produced by a magic lantern.
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changing or shifting, as a scene made up of many elements.
Other Word Forms
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.
Vocabulary lists containing phantasmagoric
"The Fall of the House of Usher" by Edgar Allan Poe
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"Why Read Shakespeare?" Vocabulary from the argument
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Stories of Ourselves
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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.
Celebrating the Declaration of Independence under these circumstances is downright phantasmagoric.
From Salon ● Jun. 30, 2026
Its bright orange shade looked almost neon against the phantasmagoric roses bursting from the carpeting and wallpaper—every inch of this underworld custom-calibrated for a blindingly colorful ride.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 9, 2026
Much that occurs is slightly phantasmagoric, resulting in a story of psychological disorientation as well as physical threat.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 27, 2023
The same holds for Steve Erickson, whose work blends the phantasmagoric — in “Our Ecstatic Days,” a lake appears at the corner of Laurel Canyon and Hollywood boulevards — with the stuff of daily life.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 14, 2022
The transaction had been so sudden as to have something of the phantasmagoric about it.
From A Friend of Caesar A Tale of the Fall of the Roman Republic. Time, 50-47 B.C. by Davis, William Stearns
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.
