Phantasmagoria

Definitions

1. A popular 18th- and 19th-century form of theater entertainment whereby ghostly apparitions are formed.
   historical
2. A series of events involving rapid changes in light intensity and color.
3. A dreamlike state where real and imagined elements are blurred together.

Equivalents

Examples

“this mental phantasmagoria”

“1874, Marcus Clarke, For the Term of His Natural Life Chapter V It is impossible to convey, in words, any idea of the hideous phantasmagoria of shifting limbs and faces which moved through the evil-smelling twilight of this terrible prison-house. Callot might have⟳ drawn it, Dante might have⟳ suggested it, but a minute attempt⟳ to describe⟳ its horrors would but disgust. There are depths in humanity which one cannot explore⟳, as there are mephitic caverns into which one dare not penetrate.”

“What’s happening at the Post⟳ now — I’m surprised more people haven’t drawn the comparison — is sort⟳ of comparable to the phantasmagoria of rake stomps which took place⟳ at The New Republic after Facebook billionaire Chris Hughes purchased it in 2012.”

CEFR level