Standard Lemma guide

pareidolia

noun · 1 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

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˌpæɹ.aɪˈdəʊ.li.ə/
  • /ˌpæɹ.iˈdoʊ.li.ə/ without the Mary–marry–merry merger
  • /ˌpæɹ.aɪˈdoʊ.li.ə/ without the Mary–marry–merry merger
  • /ˌpɛɹ.iˈdoʊ.li.ə/ Mary–marry–merry merger
  • /ˌpɛɹ.aɪˈdoʊ.li.ə/ Mary–marry–merry merger
  • General-American: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -əʊliə

1

noun

Meaning 1

The tendency to interpret a vague stimulus as something known to the observer, such as interpreting marks on Mars as canals, seeing shapes in clouds, or hearing hidden messages in music.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: human-sciences, psychology, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: apophenia

History

Etymology

Borrowed from German Pareidolie, constructed from Ancient Greek παρα- (para-, “alongside”) + εἴδωλον (eídōlon, “image”) + -ία (-ía). By surface analysis, par- + eidolia.

Across languages

Translations

18 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: بَارِيدُولِيَا (bārīdūliyā) — tendency to interpret vague stimuli as something familiar
  • Chinese Mandarin: 空想性錯視 /空想性错视 (kōngxiǎngxìng cuòshì) — tendency to interpret vague stimuli as something familiar
  • Czech: pareidolie — tendency to interpret vague stimuli as something familiar
  • Dutch: pareidolie — tendency to interpret vague stimuli as something familiar
  • Finnish: pareidolia — tendency to interpret vague stimuli as something familiar
  • French: paréidolie — tendency to interpret vague stimuli as something familiar
  • German: Pareidolie — tendency to interpret vague stimuli as something familiar
  • Greek: παρειδωλία (pareidolía) — tendency to interpret vague stimuli as something familiar
  • Hungarian: pareidolia — tendency to interpret vague stimuli as something familiar
  • Italian: pareidolia — tendency to interpret vague stimuli as something familiar
  • Macedonian: пареидо́лија (pareidólija) — tendency to interpret vague stimuli as something familiar
  • Polish: pareidolia — tendency to interpret vague stimuli as something familiar
  • Portuguese: pareidolia — tendency to interpret vague stimuli as something familiar
  • Romanian: pareidolie — tendency to interpret vague stimuli as something familiar
  • Russian: парейдоли́я (parejdolíja) — tendency to interpret vague stimuli as something familiar
  • Spanish: pareidolia — tendency to interpret vague stimuli as something familiar
  • Swedish: pareidoli — tendency to interpret vague stimuli as something familiar
  • Turkish: pareidolia — tendency to interpret vague stimuli as something familiar