hallucination
/həˌluːsɪˈneɪʃən/noun
hallucination is spelled H-A-L-L-U-C-I-N-A-T-I-O-N: 13 letters and 5 syllables. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 33,236th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, hallucination means “A sensory perception of something that does not exist, often arising from disorder of the nervous system, as in delirium tremens” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of hallucination is hallucinations.
How many letters and syllables are in hallucination?
| Letters | 13: H-A-L-L-U-C-I-N-A-T-I-O-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 5 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 33,236th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is hallucination?
Hallucination appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 33,236th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce hallucination?
- /həˌluːsɪˈneɪʃən/
Hallucination has 5 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-hallucination.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-hallucination.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of hallucination
- hallucinations plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does hallucination mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A sensory perception of something that does not exist, often arising from disorder of the nervous system, as in delirium tremens.
- 2
The act of hallucinating; a wandering of the mind; an error, mistake or blunder.
- 3
A confident but incorrect response given by an artificial intelligence; a confabulation.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Hallucination in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | hallucination, illusion |
| German | Halluzination, Wahnvorstellung, Sinnestäuschung, Illusion , Halluzinieren |
| Portuguese | alucinação |
| Spanish | alucinación, ilusión |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does hallucination come from?
From hallucinate + -ion, from Latin hallucinatus. Compare French hallucination. The first known usage in the English language is from Sir Thomas Browne.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).