phantasmagoria

[ fan-taz-muh-gawr-ee-uh, -gohr- ]

noun

1. a shifting series of phantasms, illusions, or deceptive appearances, as in a dream or as created by the imagination.
2. a changing scene made up of many elements.
3. an optical illusion produced by a magic lantern or the like in which figures increase or diminish in size, pass into each other, dissolve, etc.

phantasmagoria

/ ˌfæntæzməˈɡɒrɪk; ˌfæntæzməˈɡɔːrɪə; fænˈtæzməɡərɪ /

noun

1. psychol a shifting medley of real or imagined figures, as in a dream
2. films a sequence of pictures made to vary in size rapidly while remaining in focus
3. rare.
   a shifting scene composed of different elements

Derived Forms

• phantasmagoric, adjective
• ˌphantasmaˈgorically, adverb

Other Words From

• phan·tasma·gori·al phan·tas·ma·gor·ic [fan-taz-m, uh, -, gawr, -ik, -, gor, -], phan·tasma·gori·an adjective
• phan·tasma·gorist noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of phantasmagoria¹

1795–1805; < French fantasmagorie, compound based on fantasme phantasm; second element perhaps representing Greek agorá assembly, gathering; -ia

Word History and Origins

Origin of phantasmagoria¹

C19: probably from French fantasmagorie production of phantasms, from phantasm + -agorie, perhaps from Greek ageirein to gather together

Example Sentences

“We live entirely, especially if we are writers, by the imposition of a narrative line upon disparate images, by the ‘ideas’ with which we have learned to freeze the shifting phantasmagoria which is our actual experience.”

From Los Angeles Times

“We live entirely, especially if we are writers, by the imposition of a narrative line upon disparate images, by the ‘ideas’ with which we have learned to freeze the shifting phantasmagoria which is our actual experience.”

From Los Angeles Times

Instead of what you’d expect — legions of them, rising up in gory phantasmagoria — I encountered accounts of very few, chiefly demure lady ghosts, swathed in white, blue, or pink, like Disney princesses.

From Los Angeles Times

Cirque’s contract with Wynn, meanwhile, was exclusive, and soon the collaborators began to embark on what Cirque co-founder Guy Laliberté still refers to as Cirque’s “masterpiece”: the water-fueled phantasmagoria that is “O” at the Lake Como-inspired Bellagio.

From Los Angeles Times

I can take video of the flashing phantasmagoria displayed in the windows, glowing like screens themselves, and send it to a filmmaker friend — who will be too preoccupied with other moving images to watch it.

From New York Times