noun · 8 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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Received-Pronunciation:/ɪˈl(j)uːʒ(ə)n/
General-American:ĭ-lo͞o'zhən
General-American:[ɪˈluː.ʒən]
Received-Pronunciation:/ɪˈl(j)uːzj(ə)n/
US:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
rhymes with -uːʒən
CMU ARPABET:IH2 L UW1 ZH AH0 N
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
A distortion of sensory perception where real stimuli lead to a false or misleading impression of reality.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable
Topics: human-sciences, psychology, sciences
Examples
We saw what looked like a tiger among the trees, but it was an illusion caused by the shadows of the branches.
Using artificial additives, scientists can create the illusion of fruit flavours in food.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
A misapprehension; a belief in something that is in fact not true.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable
Examples
Jane has this illusion that John is in love with her.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
A magician’s trick.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
The state of being deceived or misled.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
5
noun
Meaning 5
an illusory feat; considered magical by naive observers
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
From Old French illusion, from Latin illūsiō, from illūdere, from in- (“at, upon”) + lūdere (“to play, mock, trick”). Displaced native Old English dwimmer.
Across languages
Translations
169 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Albanian:
iluzion
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Albanian:
ëndërrim
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Arabic:
هَلْوَسَة
(halwasa)
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Arabic:
وَهْم
(wahm)
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Arabic:
اِنْخِدَاع
(inḵidāʕ)
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Arabic:
خَيَال
(ḵayāl)
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Armenian:
պատրանք
(patrankʻ)
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Azerbaijani:
illüziya
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Azerbaijani:
xəyal
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Basque:
irudipen
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Basque:
ameskeria
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Basque:
itxaropen
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Belarusian:
ілю́зія
(iljúzija)
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Bengali:
বিভ্রম
(bibhrom)
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Bulgarian:
илю́зия
(iljúzija)
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Burmese:
မာယာ
(maya)
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Catalan:
il·lusió
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Catalan:
illusió
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Chinese Mandarin:
幻覺 /幻觉
(huànjué)
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Chinese Mandarin:
幻想
(huànxiǎng)
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Czech:
iluze
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Danish:
illusion
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Dutch:
illusie
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Dutch:
zinsbegoocheling
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Esperanto:
iluzio
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Estonian:
näiline
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Estonian:
illusioon
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Finnish:
illuusio
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Finnish:
havaintoharha
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Finnish:
harha
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Finnish:
harhanäky
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Finnish:
näköharha
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
French:
illusion
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Georgian:
ილუზია
(iluzia)
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
German:
Illusion
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
German:
Wahnvorstellung
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
German:
Sinnestäuschung
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Greek:
ψευδαίσθηση
(psevdaísthisi)
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Hebrew:
אַשְׁלָיָה
(ashlayá)
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Hindi:
भ्रम
(bhram)
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Hindi:
विभ्रम
(vibhram)
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Hindi:
माया
(māyā)
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Hungarian:
illúzió
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Icelandic:
blekking
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Ido:
iluziono
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Indonesian:
ilusi
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Irish:
seachmall
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Italian:
illusione
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Japanese:
幻覚
(genkaku)
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Japanese:
幻想
(gensō)
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Kazakh:
иллюзия
(illüziä)
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Kazakh:
елес
(eles)
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Korean:
환각
(hwan'gak)
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Korean:
환상
(hwansang)
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Kyrgyz:
иллюзия
(illyuziya)
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Lao:
ພາບລວງຕາ
(phāp lūang tā)
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Latvian:
acu māns
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Latvian:
ilūzija
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Ligurian:
illüziùn
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Lithuanian:
iliuzija
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Macedonian:
илу́зија
(ilúzija)
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Macedonian:
фатаморга́на
(fatamorgána)
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Macedonian:
ма́мка
(mámka)
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Macedonian:
при́вид
(prívid)
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Malay:
ilusi
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Malayalam:
മിഥ്യാബോധം
(mithyābōdhaṁ)
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Maltese:
illużjoni
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Māori:
pohewa
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Māori:
whakahewa
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Norwegian Bokmål:
illusjon
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Norwegian Nynorsk:
illusjon
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Iranian Persian:
وَهْم
(vahm)
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Iranian Persian:
خِیال
(xiyâl)
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Polish:
złudzenie
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Polish:
iluzja
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Polish:
ułuda
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Portuguese:
ilusão
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Punjabi:
ਭਰਮ
(bharam)
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Romanian:
iluzie
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Russian:
иллю́зия
(illjúzija)
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Russian:
наважде́ние
(navaždénije)
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Sanskrit:
माया
(māyā)
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Serbo-Croatian:
ѝлӯзија
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Serbo-Croatian:
о̏псена
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Serbo-Croatian:
ìlūzija
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Serbo-Croatian:
ȍpsena
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Slovak:
ilúzia
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Slovene:
iluzija
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Spanish:
ilusión
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Swedish:
illusion
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Swedish:
synvilla
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Tagalog:
tagimpan
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Tagalog:
panagimpan
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Tajik:
ваҳм
(vahm)
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Tajik:
хаёл
(xayol)
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Tajik:
иллюзия
(illyuziya)
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Thai:
ภาพลวงตา
(pâap-luuang-dtaa)
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Turkish:
yanılsama
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Turkish:
yanılgı
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Turkish:
illüzyon
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Turkmen:
illýuziýa
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Ukrainian:
ілю́зія
(iljúzija)
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Urdu:
وَہْم
(vahm)
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Urdu:
فَریب
(fareb)
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Uzbek:
illyuziya
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Uzbek:
vahm
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Uzbek:
xayol
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Vietnamese:
ảo tưởng
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Welsh:
rhith
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Yiddish:
אילוזיע
(iluzye)
— anything that seems to be something that it is not
Belarusian:
ілю́зія
(iljúzija)
— belief in something that is in fact not true
Bulgarian:
илю́зия
(iljúzija)
— belief in something that is in fact not true
Chinese Mandarin:
幻想
(huànxiǎng)
— belief in something that is in fact not true
Chinese Mandarin:
幻覺 /幻觉
(huànjué)
— belief in something that is in fact not true
Danish:
illusion
— belief in something that is in fact not true
Dutch:
illusie
— belief in something that is in fact not true
Finnish:
harhakuvitelma
— belief in something that is in fact not true
Finnish:
harhaluulo
— belief in something that is in fact not true
Finnish:
harha
— belief in something that is in fact not true
Finnish:
harhausko
— belief in something that is in fact not true
Georgian:
ილუზია
(iluzia)
— belief in something that is in fact not true
German:
Illusion
— belief in something that is in fact not true
Greek:
ψευδαίσθηση
(psevdaísthisi)
— belief in something that is in fact not true
Greek:
πλάνη
(pláni)
— belief in something that is in fact not true
Japanese:
幻想
(gensō)
— belief in something that is in fact not true
Korean:
환상
(hwansang)
— belief in something that is in fact not true
Macedonian:
при́вид
(prívid)
— belief in something that is in fact not true
Norwegian Bokmål:
illusjon
— belief in something that is in fact not true
Norwegian Nynorsk:
illusjon
— belief in something that is in fact not true
Polish:
iluzja
— belief in something that is in fact not true
Polish:
ułuda
— belief in something that is in fact not true
Russian:
иллю́зия
(illjúzija)
— belief in something that is in fact not true
Serbo-Croatian:
ѝлӯзија
— belief in something that is in fact not true
Serbo-Croatian:
о̏псена
— belief in something that is in fact not true
Serbo-Croatian:
ìlūzija
— belief in something that is in fact not true
Serbo-Croatian:
ȍpsena
— belief in something that is in fact not true
Swedish:
illusion
— belief in something that is in fact not true
Swedish:
förvillelse
— belief in something that is in fact not true
Ukrainian:
ілю́зія
(iljúzija)
— belief in something that is in fact not true
Belarusian:
ілю́зія
(iljúzija)
— magician's trick
Bulgarian:
илю́зия
(iljúzija)
— magician's trick
Danish:
illusion
— magician's trick
Dutch:
illusie
— magician's trick
Dutch:
truuk
— magician's trick
Dutch:
trick
— magician's trick
Estonian:
võlutrikk
— magician's trick
Estonian:
illusioon
— magician's trick
Finnish:
illuusio
— magician's trick
Finnish:
taikatemppu
— magician's trick
French:
illusion
— magician's trick
Georgian:
ილუზიონი
(iluzioni)
— magician's trick
Greek:
κόπλο
(kóplo)
— magician's trick
Hebrew:
אַשְׁלָיָה
(ashlayá)
— magician's trick
Japanese:
手品
(tejina)
— magician's trick
Latin:
praestīgiae
— magician's trick
Macedonian:
илу́зија
(ilúzija)
— magician's trick
Polish:
iluzja
— magician's trick
Portuguese:
truque de mágica
— magician's trick
Russian:
иллю́зия
(illjúzija)
— magician's trick
Swedish:
illusion
— magician's trick
Swedish:
trick
— magician's trick
Ukrainian:
ілю́зія
(iljúzija)
— magician's trick
Belarusian:
ілю́зія
(iljúzija)
— state of being misled or deceived
Bulgarian:
илю́зия
(iljúzija)
— state of being misled or deceived
Macedonian:
илу́зија
(ilúzija)
— state of being misled or deceived
Polish:
iluzja
— state of being misled or deceived
Russian:
иллю́зия
(illjúzija)
— state of being misled or deceived
Russian:
обма́н
(obmán)
— state of being misled or deceived
Ukrainian:
ілю́зія
(iljúzija)
— state of being misled or deceived
