# illusion

Pronunciation: US say "i-LOO-zhuhn" /ɪˈlu.ʒən/; UK say "i-LYOO-zhuhn" /ɪˈl(j)uːʒ(ə)n/

## Noun

1. Something that appears to be one thing but is in fact another.
   - Simple: Something that looks real or true but is not what it seems.
   - _Distance and haze can produce the illusion that two ridges are a single mountain._
   - _The set designer used forced perspective to create an illusion of vast depth on a shallow stage._
2. A mistaken belief; an idea held to be true that is in fact false.
   - Simple: A wrong belief that something is true when it really is not.
   - _Their hope of a quick economic recovery soon proved to be an illusion._
   - _He clung to the comforting illusion that prices would never fall again._
3. A trick performed by a magician to make something impossible appear to happen.
   - Simple: A trick by a magician that makes something impossible seem to happen.
   - _Her closing illusion involved sawing an assistant cleanly in half._
   - _The performer spent two years perfecting a single illusion for the new tour._
4. The condition of being deceived or led to believe what is not true.
   - Simple: The state of being fooled, so that you believe something that is not true.
   - _The glossy campaign kept voters in a state of illusion about the plan's real cost._
   - _Some people prefer the comfort of illusion to the pain of knowing the facts._

## Origin

From Old French illusion, from Latin illūsiō, from illūdere, formed from in- ("at, upon") plus lūdere ("to play, mock, trick"). It displaced the native Old English word dwimmer.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/illusion (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).