hallucinatory

adjective

hal·​lu·​ci·​na·​to·​ry hə-ˈlü-sə-nə-ˌtȯr-ē How to pronounce hallucinatory (audio)
-ˈlüs-nə-
1
: tending to produce hallucination
hallucinatory drugs
2
: resembling, involving, or being a hallucination
hallucinatory dreams
a hallucinatory figure

Examples of hallucinatory in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web There’s also a hallucinatory sensibility at times, and at others a scientific slant. Sheri Linden, The Hollywood Reporter, 22 Feb. 2024 Air Canada’s rival WestJet went through one such hallucinatory incident in 2018. Marisa Garcia, Forbes, 19 Feb. 2024 Love Lies Bleeding is a hallucinatory trip down the darkest byways of Americana. David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 21 Jan. 2024 Lest any viewer get too lost in the bright-green weeds of the Höss family’s daily routines, Glazer punctuates the movie with hallucinatory sequences, with eerily expressionistic black-and-white, night-vision thermal images, featuring music like sepulchral belches from the Earth’s depths. Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 14 Dec. 2023 Become a Subscriber For several years, researchers have understood that the hallucinatory effects of psychedelics can, in theory, be separated from the other ways the drugs affect our mental state and brain structure. Richard A. Friedman, The Atlantic, 8 Nov. 2023 Hell is a hallucinatory figment, but the streets of Los Angeles can get uncomfortably hot too. Daniel Miller, Los Angeles Times, 22 Dec. 2023 The kids treat it like a designer drug, filming their hallucinatory freak-outs on their phones. Will Bedingfield, WIRED, 21 Dec. 2023 The result is near hallucinatory in its effect, as if walking through an art museum filled with masterpieces that have lives of their own. Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter, 18 Sep. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'hallucinatory.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1830, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of hallucinatory was in 1830

Dictionary Entries Near hallucinatory

Cite this Entry

“Hallucinatory.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hallucinatory. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

hallucinatory

adjective
hal·​lu·​ci·​na·​to·​ry hə-ˈlü-sə-nə-ˌtōr-ē How to pronounce hallucinatory (audio)
-ˌtȯr-
1
: tending to produce hallucinations
2
: resembling, involving, or being a hallucination

Medical Definition

hallucinatory

adjective
hal·​lu·​ci·​na·​to·​ry hə-ˈlüs-ᵊn-ə-ˌtōr-ē, -ˈlüs-nə-, -ˌtȯr- How to pronounce hallucinatory (audio)
1
: tending to produce hallucinations
hallucinatory drugs
2
: resembling, involving, or being a hallucination
hallucinatory dreams
a hallucinatory figure
hallucinatorily adverb

More from Merriam-Webster on hallucinatory

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