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Definition of phantasmagoric - 3 dictionary results
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phan⋅tas⋅ma⋅go⋅ri⋅a

  [fan-taz-muh-gawr-ee-uh, -gohr-]
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–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.
Origin:
1795–1805; < F fantasmagorie, compound based on fantasme phantasm; second element perh. repr. Gk agorá assembly, gathering; see -ia

Related forms:
phan⋅tas⋅ma⋅go⋅ri⋅al, phan⋅tas⋅ma⋅gor⋅ic  [fan-taz-muh-gawr-ik, -gor-] , phan⋅tas⋅ma⋅gor⋅i⋅cal, phan⋅tas⋅ma⋅go⋅ri⋅an, adjective
phan⋅tas⋅ma⋅go⋅ri⋅al⋅ly, phan⋅tas⋅ma⋅gor⋅i⋅cal⋅ly, phan⋅tas⋅ma⋅go⋅ri⋅an⋅ly, adverb
phan⋅tas⋅ma⋅gor⋅ist, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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phan·tas·ma·go·ri·a   (fān-tāz'mə-gôr'ē-ə, -gōr'-)   
n.   pl. phan·tas·ma·go·ri·as also phan·tas·ma·go·ries
    1. A fantastic sequence of haphazardly associative imagery, as seen in dreams or fever.
    2. A constantly changing scene composed of numerous elements.
  2. Fantastic imagery as represented in art.

[Alteration of obsolete French phantasmagorie, art of creating supernatural illusions : perhaps fantasme, illusion (from Old French; see phantasm) + allégorie, allegory, allegorical visual representation (from Old French, allegory, from Latin allēgoria; see allegory).]
phan·tas'ma·gor'ic (-gôr'ĭk, -gŏr'-) adj., phan·tas'ma·gor'i·cal·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Phantasmagoric

Phan*tas`ma*gor"ic\, a. Of or pertaining to phantasmagoria; phantasmagorial. --Hawthorne.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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