PHANTASMAGORIC Synonyms: 73 Similar and Opposite Words

phantasmagoric

adjective

variants or phantasmagorical

Definition of phantasmagoric

as in hallucinatory

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of phantasmagoric Step into the wardrobe and enter Greta Gerwig’s phantasmagorical emporium of glam-rock excess. — Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 17 Sep. 2026 Over the course of one phantasmagoric evening, Robin witnesses events that prefigure the Revolutionary War. — John Swansburg, The Atlantic, 15 June 2026 The action is punctuated by flash-frame collages that bring earlier and later observations together in a tumble of associations and hint at the drama’s mystical, phantasmagorical essence. — Richard Brody, New Yorker, 6 Feb. 2026 Today, the public district collection comprises some 35 large-scale murals, sculptures and installations, including the phantasmagoric exterior of its Museum Garage. — Andres Viglucci, Miami Herald, 30 Nov. 2025 The Land of Spooks is a phantasmagorical blend of twisting gothic spires, impossible land formations, and disconcerting expressionist proportions. — Kambole Campbell, IndieWire, 4 Nov. 2025 As the two keepers' accelerating madness batters their already uneasy relationship, the film becomes a phantasmagorical endurance test, with the two antagonistic leads hurling themselves against their tight confinement. — Dennis Perkins, Entertainment Weekly, 31 Oct. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for phantasmagoric

Adjective

There’s a real opportunity in the fourth episode to do something fun, or at least interesting, when Tyson convinces Russ to join him in smoking hallucinatory toad venom, but no flair or flourishes emerge.

— Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 13 Oct. 2026
For all of its reliance on dialogue over action, Season of the Witch still manages a tense and, at times, hallucinatory atmosphere.

— Terrence O'Brien, The Verge, 11 Oct. 2026

Definition of hallucinatory

Adjective

Born as the score to a surreal short film set on Manchester’s empty streets, the ambient duo’s latest album folds classical instrumentation and field recordings into a mood of deep introspection.

— Kiana Mickles, Pitchfork, 13 Oct. 2026
Larry David has built one of the greatest careers in comedy out of his own hyperfixations, particular neuroses, and the surreal situations these often lead him into.

— Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 13 Oct. 2026

Definition of surreal

Adjective

Thomas drives away with a limp, malfunctioning Vision next to him, and an illusory, wisecracking Ultron in the back seat.

— Tasha Robinson, Vulture, 14 Oct. 2026
Yet these promises of a self-running state are illusory, because AI is never truly autonomous.

— Seva Gunitsky, Foreign Affairs, 1 Oct. 2026

Definition of illusory

Adjective

The wealth tax opponents have applied the age-old technique of mustering superficially plausible, but largely imaginary, consequences of passage.

— Business Columnist, Los Angeles Times, 16 Oct. 2026
The genre gave him considerably more freedom to invent architectural settings, mixing classical ruins, waterways, and figures into elaborate imaginary landscapes.

— Daniel Cassady, ARTnews.com, 15 Oct. 2026

Definition of imaginary

Adjective

Gascón will play Manuela, a teacher in an elite school, and Ituño the the role of Evita, the personal secretary to the prime minister of the series’ fictional country.

— Annika Pham, Variety, 15 Oct. 2026
The series takes place during the fictional two-term Democratic administration of President Josiah Bartlet, played by Martin Sheen.

— Armando Tinoco, Deadline, 14 Oct. 2026

Definition of fictional

Adjective

The series will be set in a fictitious Barneys in Beverly Hills, not New York, and the real founding family of the retailer, the Pressman family, has no involvement, the spokesperson said.

— Jean E. Palmieri, Footwear News, 14 Oct. 2026
Dempsey appeared in Disney’s fantasy romance Enchanted (2007) as Robert Philip, a New York divorce lawyer whose orderly life is disrupted by the arrival of a fairy-tale princess (played by Amy Adams) from the fictitious land of Andalasia.

— Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 9 Oct. 2026

Definition of fictitious

Adjective

Yet, for millions living with untreatable neurological conditions, these chimeric rodents represent a crucial step forward — bringing the dark box of the human brain into the light.

— Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 17 Sep. 2026
In a study published Wednesday in Nature, the Stanford team reported finding types of human cells inside the brains of 3-month-old chimeric mouse pups that are very hard to obtain in a dish.

— Megan Molteni, STAT, 16 Sep. 2026

Definition of chimerical

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“Phantasmagoric.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/phantasmagoric. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of phantasmagoric

adjective

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