Meanings
nounillusion (countable and uncountable, plural illusions)
plural illusions
- countablehuman sciencesA distortion of sensory perception where real stimuli lead to a false or misleading impression of reality.
Using artificial additives, scientists can create the illusion of fruit flavours in food.
2 more examples
We saw what looked like a tiger among the trees, but it was an illusion caused by the shadows of the branches.
You realize the sun don't go down it's just an illusion caused by the world spinning round.
2002, “Do You Realize??”, performed by The Flaming Lips - countableA misapprehension; a belief in something that is in fact not true.
Jane has this illusion that John is in love with her.
1 more example
Now if you feel that you can't go on / Because all of your hope is gone / And your life is filled with much confusion / Until happiness is just an illusion
1967, Four Tops, “Reach Out I'll Be There”, in Reach OutSynonyms: misapprehension, misbelief, misconception
- countableA magician’s trick.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA misapprehension; a belief in something that is in fact not true.
More synonyms by meaning
nounthe act of deluding; deception by creating illusory ideas
Broader
nounan illusory feat; considered magical by naive observers
Broader
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinillūsiō
- Old Frenchillusion
- Englishillusion
From Old French illusion, from Latin illūsiō, from illūdere, from in- (“at, upon”) + lūdere (“to play, mock, trick”). Displaced native Old English dwimmer.
More words from Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic هَلْوَسَة, وَهْم
- هَلْوَسَة (halwasa)anything that seems to be something that it is not
- وَهْم (wahm)anything that seems to be something that it is not
- اِنْخِدَاع (inḵidāʕ)anything that seems to be something that it is not
- خَيَال (ḵayāl)anything that seems to be something that it is not
Basque irudipen, ameskeria
- irudipenanything that seems to be something that it is not
- ameskeriaanything that seems to be something that it is not
- itxaropenanything that seems to be something that it is not
Bengali বিভ্রম
- বিভ্রম (bibhrom)anything that seems to be something that it is not
Bulgarian илю́зия, илю́зия
- илю́зия (iljúzija)belief in something that is in fact not true
- илю́зия (iljúzija)magician's trick
- илю́зия (iljúzija)anything that seems to be something that it is not
- илю́зия (iljúzija)state of being misled or deceived
Catalan il·lusió, illusió
- il·lusióanything that seems to be something that it is not
- illusióanything that seems to be something that it is not
Chinese Mandarin 幻想, 幻覺 /幻觉
- 幻想 (huànxiǎng)belief in something that is in fact not true
- 幻覺 /幻觉 (huànjué)belief in something that is in fact not true
- 幻覺 /幻觉 (huànjué)anything that seems to be something that it is not
- 幻想 (huànxiǎng)anything that seems to be something that it is not
Czech iluze
- iluzeanything that seems to be something that it is not
Danish illusion, illusion
- illusionbelief in something that is in fact not true
- illusionmagician's trick
- illusionanything that seems to be something that it is not
Dutch illusie, illusie
- illusiebelief in something that is in fact not true
- illusiemagician's trick
- truukmagician's trick
- trickmagician's trick
- illusieanything that seems to be something that it is not
- zinsbegoochelinganything that seems to be something that it is not
Esperanto iluzio
- iluzioanything that seems to be something that it is not
Estonian võlutrikk, illusioon
- võlutrikkmagician's trick
- illusioonmagician's trick
- näilineanything that seems to be something that it is not
- illusioonanything that seems to be something that it is not
Finnish harhakuvitelma, harhaluulo
- harhakuvitelmabelief in something that is in fact not true
- harhaluulobelief in something that is in fact not true
- harhabelief in something that is in fact not true
- harhauskobelief in something that is in fact not true
- illuusiomagician's trick
- taikatemppumagician's trick
- illuusioanything that seems to be something that it is not
- havaintoharhaanything that seems to be something that it is not
- harhaanything that seems to be something that it is not
- harhanäkyanything that seems to be something that it is not
- näköharhaanything that seems to be something that it is not
French illusion, illusion
- illusionmagician's trick
- illusionanything that seems to be something that it is not
German Illusion, Illusion
- Illusionbelief in something that is in fact not true
- Illusionanything that seems to be something that it is not
- Wahnvorstellunganything that seems to be something that it is not
- Sinnestäuschunganything that seems to be something that it is not
Greek ψευδαίσθηση, πλάνη
- ψευδαίσθηση (psevdaísthisi)belief in something that is in fact not true
- πλάνη (pláni)belief in something that is in fact not true
- κόπλο (kóplo)magician's trick
- ψευδαίσθηση (psevdaísthisi)anything that seems to be something that it is not
Hebrew אַשְׁלָיָה, אַשְׁלָיָה
- אַשְׁלָיָה (ashlayá)magician's trick
- אַשְׁלָיָה (ashlayá)anything that seems to be something that it is not
Hindi भ्रम, विभ्रम
- भ्रम (bhram)anything that seems to be something that it is not
- विभ्रम (vibhram)anything that seems to be something that it is not
- माया (māyā)anything that seems to be something that it is not
Hungarian illúzió
- illúzióanything that seems to be something that it is not
Icelandic blekking
- blekkinganything that seems to be something that it is not
Indonesian ilusi
- ilusianything that seems to be something that it is not
Irish seachmall
- seachmallanything that seems to be something that it is not
Italian illusione
- illusioneanything that seems to be something that it is not
Japanese 幻想, 手品
- 幻想 (gensō)belief in something that is in fact not true
- 手品 (tejina)magician's trick
- 幻覚 (genkaku)anything that seems to be something that it is not
- 幻想 (gensō)anything that seems to be something that it is not
Korean 환상, 환각
- 환상 (hwansang)belief in something that is in fact not true
- 환각 (hwan'gak)anything that seems to be something that it is not
- 환상 (hwansang)anything that seems to be something that it is not
Latin praestīgiae
- praestīgiaemagician's trick
Latvian acu māns, ilūzija
- acu mānsanything that seems to be something that it is not
- ilūzijaanything that seems to be something that it is not
Lithuanian iliuzija
- iliuzijaanything that seems to be something that it is not
Malay ilusi
- ilusianything that seems to be something that it is not
Māori pohewa, whakahewa
- pohewaanything that seems to be something that it is not
- whakahewaanything that seems to be something that it is not
Norwegian Bokmål illusjon, illusjon
- illusjonbelief in something that is in fact not true
- illusjonanything that seems to be something that it is not
Polish iluzja, ułuda
- iluzjabelief in something that is in fact not true
- ułudabelief in something that is in fact not true
- iluzjamagician's trick
- złudzenieanything that seems to be something that it is not
- iluzjaanything that seems to be something that it is not
- ułudaanything that seems to be something that it is not
- iluzjastate of being misled or deceived
Portuguese truque de mágica, ilusão
- truque de mágicamagician's trick
- ilusãoanything that seems to be something that it is not
Punjabi ਭਰਮ
- ਭਰਮ (bharam)anything that seems to be something that it is not
Romanian iluzie
- iluzieanything that seems to be something that it is not
Russian иллю́зия, иллю́зия
- иллю́зия (illjúzija)belief in something that is in fact not true
- иллю́зия (illjúzija)magician's trick
- иллю́зия (illjúzija)anything that seems to be something that it is not
- наважде́ние (navaždénije)anything that seems to be something that it is not
- иллю́зия (illjúzija)state of being misled or deceived
- обма́н (obmán)state of being misled or deceived
Slovak ilúzia
- ilúziaanything that seems to be something that it is not
Spanish ilusión
- ilusiónanything that seems to be something that it is not
Swedish illusion, förvillelse
- illusionbelief in something that is in fact not true
- förvillelsebelief in something that is in fact not true
- illusionmagician's trick
- trickmagician's trick
- illusionanything that seems to be something that it is not
- synvillaanything that seems to be something that it is not
Tagalog tagimpan, panagimpan
- tagimpananything that seems to be something that it is not
- panagimpananything that seems to be something that it is not
Thai ภาพลวงตา
- ภาพลวงตา (pâap-luuang-dtaa)anything that seems to be something that it is not
Turkish yanılsama, yanılgı
- yanılsamaanything that seems to be something that it is not
- yanılgıanything that seems to be something that it is not
- illüzyonanything that seems to be something that it is not
Ukrainian ілю́зія, ілю́зія
- ілю́зія (iljúzija)belief in something that is in fact not true
- ілю́зія (iljúzija)magician's trick
- ілю́зія (iljúzija)anything that seems to be something that it is not
- ілю́зія (iljúzija)state of being misled or deceived
Urdu وَہْم, فَریب
- وَہْم (vahm)anything that seems to be something that it is not
- فَریب (fareb)anything that seems to be something that it is not
Vietnamese ảo tưởng
- ảo tưởnganything that seems to be something that it is not
Welsh rhith
- rhithanything that seems to be something that it is not
Yiddish אילוזיע
- אילוזיע (iluzye)anything that seems to be something that it is not
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with illusion
conclusionfusioninclusionconfusionexclusiondiffusionintrusioninfusiontransfusionextrusiondelusionocclusionBelarusianseclusioneffusionallusionprofusionprotrusiondisillusionmalocclusionpreclusioncontusionVenusianabusion
All rhymes →Cite this entry
APA
illusion. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/illusion
MLA
“illusion.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/illusion. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “illusion,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/illusion.
Source: illusion on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.