as in saw
to see or sense something or someone that is not really there; to have hallucinations
The patient may hallucinate if she has a fever.
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Recent Examples of hallucinated
Last year, a Los Angeles attorney was fined for submitting a filing full of legal citations that were hallucinated by ChatGPT.
—
James Queally, Los Angeles Times, 18 Mar. 2026
The report was riddled with fake citations that appeared to be hallucinated by AI, which the White House attributed to formatting errors; HHS then corrected the report by removing the false citations and swapping in new references.
—Matteo Wong, The Atlantic, 13 Feb. 2026
Sonatype’s research found that GPT-5 hallucinated nearly 28% of component versions and, without real-time intelligence, even recommended malware.
—Tony Bradley, Forbes.com, 28 Jan. 2026
The weather was accurate but the towns were hallucinated by the computer program.
—Krista Kafer, Denver Post, 25 Jan. 2026
And that’s assuming ChatGPT hasn’t hallucinated anything.
—ArsTechnica, 30 Oct. 2025
Regardless, the guides require reading comprehension skills and don’t offer random, hallucinated, or uncited thoughts about the text.
—Joelle Renstrom
august 28, Literary Hub, 28 Aug. 2025
Zane Wach, 14, hallucinated and walked off a cliff while climbing Mount Whitney in Northern California on June 10.
—Abigail Adams, People.com, 18 Aug. 2025
For example, the o3 and o4 reasoning models that came out in April hallucinated more than their predecessors, TechCrunch reports.
—Emily Forlini, PC Magazine, 8 Aug. 2025
James Queally, Los Angeles Times, 18 Mar. 2026
The report was riddled with fake citations that appeared to be hallucinated by AI, which the White House attributed to formatting errors; HHS then corrected the report by removing the false citations and swapping in new references.
—Matteo Wong, The Atlantic, 13 Feb. 2026
Sonatype’s research found that GPT-5 hallucinated nearly 28% of component versions and, without real-time intelligence, even recommended malware.
—Tony Bradley, Forbes.com, 28 Jan. 2026
The weather was accurate but the towns were hallucinated by the computer program.
—Krista Kafer, Denver Post, 25 Jan. 2026
And that’s assuming ChatGPT hasn’t hallucinated anything.
—ArsTechnica, 30 Oct. 2025
Regardless, the guides require reading comprehension skills and don’t offer random, hallucinated, or uncited thoughts about the text.
—Joelle Renstrom
august 28, Literary Hub, 28 Aug. 2025
Zane Wach, 14, hallucinated and walked off a cliff while climbing Mount Whitney in Northern California on June 10.
—Abigail Adams, People.com, 18 Aug. 2025
For example, the o3 and o4 reasoning models that came out in April hallucinated more than their predecessors, TechCrunch reports.
—Emily Forlini, PC Magazine, 8 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hallucinated
Verb
-
Moving a blade back and forth to try to saw biscuits apart will make their layers stick (and ruin the rise).—
Ella Quittner,
Bon Appetit Magazine,
20 Mar. 2026
-
Ruggeri says that, in comparison to saw palmetto, which gets far more attention.—
Adam Hurly,
Robb Report,
19 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Thus the god of the clan, the totemic principle, can be none other than the clan itself, but the clan transfigured and imagined.—
Glenn Adamson,
Artforum,
2 May 2026
-
Fire changed human habitation in ways our ancestors could hardly have imagined.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
1 May 2026
Verb
-
But for many, the occasion carried a deeper meaning, one centered on those who dreamed of connecting Los Angeles to Chicago by road generations before them.—
Audrey Pachuta,
Chicago Tribune,
1 May 2026
-
One participant dreamed of asking for help from a fellow-passenger in a car.—
Shayla Love,
New Yorker,
1 May 2026
Verb
-
Leonard’s deal with Aspiration occurred as Ballmer invested in the company and as the Clippers and Aspiration signed deals that contemplated a $300 million partnership for Aspiration to sponsor the Clippers’ arena and the team’s jersey patch.—
Michael McCann,
Sportico.com,
24 Apr. 2026
-
The presence of the Sussexes would detract from that, and so, it cannot be contemplated.—
Stephanie Nolasco , Ashley Papa,
FOXNews.com,
24 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
For years the sisters had fantasized, half-seriously, about having their own YouTube channel.—
Scot Paltrow,
Los Angeles Times,
30 Mar. 2026
-
The new sound became a global fad, even in the locales that exotica artists fantasized about.—
H.D. Angel,
Pitchfork,
7 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
The philosopher Biggie Smalls once pondered the nature of dangerously escalating rivalries.—
Daniel Fienberg,
HollywoodReporter,
16 Apr. 2026
-
Standing alone in a Swedish laundromat, Alfie Whiteman set a 10-second timer on his camera and pondered what to do next.—
Ben Church,
CNN Money,
16 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Every vessel was visualized clearly.—
Mrigakshi Dixit,
Interesting Engineering,
23 Mar. 2026
-
The story follows struggling creatives navigating debt, eviction threats and a precarious gig economy, visualized in Riley’s inventive style — from looming piles of eviction notices to characters literally struggling up and down steep inclines that mirror the instability of their lives.—
Deborah Sengupta Stith,
Austin American Statesman,
17 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Hallucinated.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hallucinated. Accessed 3 May. 2026.
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