verb

hallucinate

huh-LOO-sih-nayt

verb

To perceive things that are not actually present, as a result of mental state, drugs, or illness.

"The fever made him hallucinate strange shapes on the ceiling."

(of an AI model) To generate confident but false or fabricated information.

"The chatbot hallucinated a court case that never existed."

"AI models sometimes hallucinate citations that look real but aren't."

How to Use Hallucinate

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishTo see or sense things that aren't really there — or, for AI, to confidently make up false information.

Common pairings

hallucinate details AI model hallucinates

hallucinated past tense, hallucinates singular

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Can you complete this real example?

The fever made him _____ strange shapes on the ceiling.

From Latin hallucinatus, related to a verb meaning "to wander in the mind" or "to dream."

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