hallucinate
verb
hal·lu·ci·nate
hə-ˈlü-sə-ˌnāt 
hallucinated; hallucinating
1
: to affect with visions or imaginary perceptions
2
: to perceive or experience as a hallucination
: to have hallucinations
Examples of hallucinate in a Sentence
The patient may hallucinate if she has a fever.
Recent Examples on the Web
To be clear, AI still hallucinates, meaning human oversight remains crucial—especially in regulated environments like banking.
—
Judith Magyar, Forbes.com, 22 July 2025
MacAskill was one of the inspirations for Arthur Candlewick, the patriarch of a wealthy British family, who, after spending three days hallucinating at the bottom of a mineshaft, decides to give everything away.
—Ben Brooks
july 17, Literary Hub, 17 July 2025
Most recently, Newsom touted artificial intelligence as both a solution to bureaucratic bloat and a revenue generator for the state, despite questions about the industry’s shaky business models and large language models’ tendency to hallucinate, or present false information.
—Molly Gibbs, Sacbee.com, 16 July 2025
Some of the most sophisticated new reasoning models are hallucinating more frequently, for reasons that aren’t clear to researchers.
—Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Time, 16 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for hallucinate
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Judith Magyar, Forbes.com, 22 July 2025
MacAskill was one of the inspirations for Arthur Candlewick, the patriarch of a wealthy British family, who, after spending three days hallucinating at the bottom of a mineshaft, decides to give everything away.
—Ben Brooks
july 17, Literary Hub, 17 July 2025
Most recently, Newsom touted artificial intelligence as both a solution to bureaucratic bloat and a revenue generator for the state, despite questions about the industry’s shaky business models and large language models’ tendency to hallucinate, or present false information.
—Molly Gibbs, Sacbee.com, 16 July 2025
Some of the most sophisticated new reasoning models are hallucinating more frequently, for reasons that aren’t clear to researchers.
—Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Time, 16 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for hallucinate
Cite this Entry
“Hallucinate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hallucinate. Accessed 3 Aug. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
hallucinate
verb
hal·lu·ci·nate
hə-ˈlüs-ə-ˌnāt
hallucinated; hallucinating
: to have hallucinations or experience as a hallucination
Medical Definition
hallucinate
verb
hal·lu·ci·nate
hə-ˈlüs-ᵊn-ˌāt
hallucinated; hallucinating
1
: to affect with visions or imaginary perceptions
the patient is not hallucinated
2
: to perceive or experience as a hallucination
may hallucinate monsters or attackers—M. J. Horowitz
M. J. Horowitz
: to have hallucinations
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