Chinese word

幻觉

Pronunciation

Pinyinhuàn jué

Meaning

  • nounhallucination

Example

孩子说看见了幻觉，其实没有人。hái zi shuō kàn jiàn le huàn jué qí shí méi yǒu rén

The child said they had a hallucination, but no one was actually there.

Illustration for 幻觉 (hallucination)

More examples

长期失眠有时会让人产生幻觉。cháng qī shī mián yǒu shí huì ràng rén chǎn shēng huàn jué

Long-term insomnia can sometimes cause hallucinations.

Core concept

The mind supplies a sensory experience even though nothing outside the mind is causing it.

Common phrases

  • 产生幻觉chǎn shēng huàn jué

    develop hallucinations

  • 出现幻觉chū xiàn huàn jué

    hallucinations appear

  • 视觉幻觉shì jué huàn jué

    visual hallucination

  • 听觉幻觉tīng jué huàn jué

    auditory hallucination

Similar words

错觉cuò jué: A mistaken sensory impression caused by something real but understood incorrectly.
妄想wàng xiǎng: A firm belief that conflicts with the facts and feels completely real.
幻听huàn tīng: A sound or voice heard even though nothing is making that sound.
幻视huàn shì: An object or light seen even though it is not really there.

Definition in Chinese

指个体在无实际外部刺激情况下产生的视觉、听觉等主观感受或知觉异常，常与疾病、药物或睡眠剥夺有关。zhǐ gè tǐ zài wú shí jì wài bù cì jī qíng kuàng xià chǎn shēng de shì jué tīng jué děng zhǔ guān gǎn shòu huò zhī jué yì cháng cháng yǔ jí bìng yào wù huò shuì mián bō duó yǒu guān

Word origin

幻 (huàn, "illusion") contributes the idea of something unreal, while 觉 (jué, "perceive") contributes sensing it, so their compound describes an unreal sensory experience.

Usage tips

  • English speakers often use hallucination mainly for seeing things, but the Chinese term also covers false sounds and other sensory experiences, so the surrounding verb can show which sense is meant.

Opposites

Related words

  • 幻觉症huàn jué zhènghallucinosisnoun
  • 幻觉障碍huàn jué zhàng àihallucination disordernoun

Word lists with this word