Synonyms of mirage

mirage

noun

as in daydream

something that comes from or exists only in the mind and is not real

He thought he saw water up ahead but it was just a mirage.

Synonyms & Similar Words

• daydream
• dream
• illusion
• delusion
• nightmare
• vision
• unreality
• phantasy
• chimera
• phantasm
• hallucination
• figment
• fantasy
• optical illusion
• pipe dream
• fantasm
• fabrication
• fiction
• visualization
• concoction
• nonentity
• idea
• ignis fatuus
• conceit
• apparition
• imaging
• fancy
• utopia
• brainchild
• fable
• cloudland
• will-o'-the-wisp
• appearance
• envisaging
• Shangri-la
• imaginativeness
• invention
• ideation
• creativity
• contrivance
• daymare
• inventiveness
• originality
• mind's eye

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• fact
• reality
• actuality

Synonym Chooser

How does the noun mirage contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of mirage are delusion, hallucination, and illusion. While all these words mean "something that is believed to be true or real but that is actually false or unreal," mirage in its extended sense applies to an illusory vision, dream, hope, or aim.

claimed a balanced budget is a mirage

Where would delusion be a reasonable alternative to mirage?

The words delusion and mirage can be used in similar contexts, but delusion implies an inability to distinguish between what is real and what only seems to be real, often as the result of a disordered state of mind.

delusions of persecution

When could hallucination be used to replace mirage?

In some situations, the words hallucination and mirage are roughly equivalent. However, hallucination implies impressions that are the product of disordered senses, as because of mental illness or drugs.

suffered from terrifying hallucinations

When can illusion be used instead of mirage?

While the synonyms illusion and mirage are close in meaning, illusion implies a false ascribing of reality based on what one sees or imagines.

an illusion of safety

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of mirage

The retailer is bringing its music festival to Coachella Valley in Southern California for the eighth year with a new theme: desert mirage. —Ryma Chikhoune, WWD, 10 Mar. 2025

The Inland Empire is not quite a news desert, Corrigan said, but a news mirage — an area that seems to have more substantive journalism than in reality. —Daniel Eduardo Hernandez, Los Angeles Times, 5 Mar. 2025

The first of this two-part article explores why legal transformation remains a mirage, notwithstanding rapid global and business change. —Mark A. Cohen, Forbes, 23 Feb. 2025

If the effect is widespread, chasing an immutable ordering is comparable to chasing a mirage. —Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 19 Feb. 2025

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