hallucinate

/həˈl(j)uːsɪneɪt/

//həˈl(j)uːsɪneɪt// verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"hallucinate" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“hallucinate” is uncommon English (frequency #62,188 among 2,646 “H” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#62,188
frequency rank, English
2,646
“H” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To seem to perceive things (with one or more of one's senses) which are not really present; to have visions; to experience a hallucination.

Corpus desk

Index EN-hallucinate · hallucinate · English

hallucinate · rank #62,188 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #62,188
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,646
  • PHOTO-FINISH hanif

Nearest frequency peer: hanif (+1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “hallucinate”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “hallucinate” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for hallucinate
PropertyValue
Headwordhallucinate
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/həˈl(j)uːsɪneɪt/
Letters11
Frequency rank#62,188
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “hallucinate” in English

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).hallucinatefalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Rare peers in the same band: “hanif” (#62,189), “hackman” (#62,186), “Hattori” (#62,190). Among 2,646 “H” headwords, “hallucinate” is #62,188. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

hallucinate is uncommon English at frequency #62,188 among 2,646 “H” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /həˈl(j)uːsɪneɪt/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for hallucinate, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: First attested in 1604; borrowed from Latin hallūcinātus, alternative form of alūcinātus, perfect active participle of alucinor (“to dream”); see -ate (verb-forming suffix). The correct English form is hallucinate, spelled H-A-L-L-U-C-I-N-A-T-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    To seem to perceive things (with one or more of one's senses) which are not really present; to have visions; to experience a hallucination.
  2. 2
    To produce information that is not supported by the model's training data.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how hallucinate appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. In case you were wondering, the yahoo url above doesn’t actually exist, the model just hallucinated it.
  2. Despite maintaining plausible general linguistic capabilities, dialogue models are still unable to fully discern facts and may instead hallucinate factually invalid information.

Etymology

First attested in 1604; borrowed from Latin hallūcinātus, alternative form of alūcinātus, perfect active participle of alucinor (“to dream”); see -ate (verb-forming suffix).

This word in other languages

alucinar(Español)halluciner(Français)halluzinieren(Deutsch)alucinar(Português)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "hallucinate"?
"hallucinate" is spelled H-A-L-L-U-C-I-N-A-T-E. The IPA pronunciation is /həˈl(j)uːsɪneɪt/.
What does "hallucinate" mean?
As a verb, "hallucinate" means: To seem to perceive things (with one or more of one's senses) which are not really present; to have visions; to experience a hallucination.
How do you pronounce "hallucinate"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "hallucinate" is /həˈl(j)uːsɪneɪt/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "hallucinate"?
First attested in 1604; borrowed from Latin hallūcinātus, alternative form of alūcinātus, perfect active participle of alucinor (“to dream”); see -ate (verb-forming suffix). See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "hallucinate", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

granularity#62,178impulsivity#62,215frightfully#62,154intraocular#62,228

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list