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Definition of hallucinate

hallucinate

/həˈluːsɪneɪt/
hal · lu · ci · nate
Adjective:hallucinatory
•
Past Simple:hallucinated
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Past Participle:hallucinated
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Present Participle:hallucinating
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hallucinate Lexical Profile

hallucinate Game Scores & Validity

• verb

1

To perceive sights, sounds, smells, or other sensations that appear real to the mind but have no external physical source, typically due to fever, exhaustion, illness, or psychoactive substances.

Example

"After three days without sleep, the exhausted hiker began to hallucinate voices in the wind."

2

To generate false, fabricated, or nonsensical information and present it as factual truth (of an artificial intelligence system).

Example

"Early versions of the language model would occasionally hallucinate nonexistent legal citations when answering complex queries."

Synonyms
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Antonyms
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• Nearby Words

hallow
hallowed
hallstand
hallucinate
hallucination
hallucinatory
hallucinogenic

Word Origin & Etymology

Borrowed in the mid-17th century from the Latin past participle 'hallucinatus', from the verb 'hallucinari' meaning 'to wander in the mind, talk nonsensically, or dream'. Its semantic extension to artificial intelligence emerged in the early 21st century to describe plausible-sounding but fabricated outputs.

Cite this Entry

Wordmom. (2026). Definition of Hallucinate. In Wordmom Dictionary. Retrieved Nov 5, 2026, from https://wordmom.com/dictionary/hallucinate
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