hallucinate
Americanverb (used without object)
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to see or hear things that do not exist outside the mind; have hallucinations.
People who ingested this fungus often hallucinated, seeing colored lights or hearing voices.
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Computers, Digital Technology. (of a machine learning program) to produce false information contrary to the intent of the user and present it as if true and factual.
verb (used with object)
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to see or hear (things that do not exist outside the mind); have hallucinations about.
In dramatic moments, the character hallucinates a very funny animated bear.
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Archaic. to affect with hallucinations.
verb
Other Word Forms
- hallucinator noun
- nonhallucinated adjective
- unhallucinated adjective
- unhallucinating adjective
Etymology
Origin of hallucinate
First recorded in 1595–1605; from Latin hallūcinātus “wandered mentally” past participle of hallūcinārī, variant of (h)ālūcinārī “to dream, talk idly, wander mentally”
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.
AI agents are increasingly widespread but experts warn they can "hallucinate" non-existent events.
From Barron's
It explains why AI hallucinates and makes other mistakes.
But, he added, AI systems can “hallucinate,” creating model and data-security problems if not carefully managed.
From Barron's
As is well-known, AI can screw up even the simplest facts, or just hallucinate and invent details, so it pays to check everything.
"This means that visual information about things happening in the outside world becomes less accessible to our consciousness. To fill this gap in the puzzle, our brain inserts fragments from memory -- it hallucinates."
From Science Daily
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.