hallucination

/hə,lu:si'neiʃn/
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hallucination

He saw a vivid hallucination of a giant butterfly in the room.

Definition
  1. Noun:
    • A sensory experience of something that does not exist outside the mind, often as a symptom of a mental disorder or induced by drugs or extreme fatigue: A hallucination is a perception in the absence of an external stimulus that has the compelling sense of reality.
    • A false or mistaken idea or belief; a delusion: In a more general sense, it can refer to a belief or impression that is not based in reality.
Examples
  • Noun:
    • The patient reported a vivid hallucination of snakes crawling on the walls.
    • His claim that he could communicate with aliens was dismissed as a hallucination by the scientists.
    • Severe sleep deprivation can sometimes lead to auditory hallucinations.
Advanced Usage
  • "to have a hallucination": to experience a hallucination.
    • Under the influence of the drug, she began to have terrifying hallucinations.
  • "a hallucination of grandeur": a false belief in one's own importance, power, or identity (a specific type of delusion, often phrased as "delusions of grandeur").
    • The dictator's plans for a global empire were a hallucination of grandeur.
Variants and Related Words
  • Hallucinate (verb): to experience a hallucination.
    • Some medications can cause patients to hallucinate.
  • Hallucinatory (adjective): of or resembling a hallucination.
    • The fever gave him a hallucinatory vision of his childhood home.
  • Hallucinogen (noun): a substance that causes hallucinations.
    • LSD is a powerful hallucinogen.
Synonyms
  • Delusion: A fixed false belief, especially one resistant to reason.
  • Illusion: A deceptive appearance or impression, often of something that is actually present but misinterpreted.
  • Phantasm: A figment of the imagination; an illusion or apparition.
  • Vision: An experience of seeing someone or something in a dream, trance, or as a supernatural apparition.
Related Phrases
  • Auditory hallucination: A hallucination involving hearing sounds or voices that are not present.
    • He suffered from auditory hallucinations, hearing voices that criticized him.
  • Visual hallucination: A hallucination involving seeing objects, people, or lights that are not there.
    • The visual hallucination of a loved one can be common in grief.
  • Tactile hallucination: A hallucination involving the sense of touch, such as feeling insects on the skin.
    • The sensation of bugs crawling under her skin was a persistent tactile hallucination.
Related Idioms
  • "Seeing things": An informal idiom meaning to have hallucinations.
    • You must be seeing things; there's no one at the door.
hallucination

He saw a vivid hallucination of a giant butterfly in the room.

Noun
  1. an object perceived during a hallucinatory episode
    • he refused to believe that the angel was a hallucination
  2. a mistaken or unfounded opinion or idea
    • he has delusions of competence
    • his dreams of vast wealth are a hallucination
  3. illusory perception; a common symptom of severe mental disorder