hallucinatory

adjective

hal·​lu·​ci·​na·​to·​ry hə-ˈlü-sə-nə-ˌtȯr-ē 

-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

In the hallucinatory new scenes, the connection between Lee and Allerton goes to places the earthbound book could never take it. —Ira Silverberg, Vulture, 27 Nov. 2024

My insomnia and the strange sky at dawn melded together to create a hallucinatory experience: the lights were moving, disappearing, ebbing, flowing. —Kayla Aletha Welch, Longreads, 19 Nov. 2024

With light, composition, and careful lensing, the camera balances the film’s delicate mix of levity and weight, grace and cruelty, the documentary and the hallucinatory. —Matthew Carey, Deadline, 19 Oct. 2024

Instead, his hallucinatory drama explores themes like Black assimilation, imperial white oppression, eroticism, and the uneasy relationship between religion and power. —Jordan Crucchiola, Vulture, 29 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1830, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

hallucinatory

adjective

hal·​lu·​ci·​na·​to·​ry hə-ˈlü-sə-nə-ˌtōr-ē 

-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- 

1

: tending to produce hallucinations

hallucinatory drugs

2

: resembling, involving, or being a hallucination

hallucinatory dreams

a hallucinatory figure

hallucinatorily

-ˌtōr-ə-lē, -ˌtȯr- 

adverb