phantasmagoria

• phantasmagory
• fantasmagoria

From French phantasmagorie, from Ancient Greek φάντασμα (phántasma, “ghost”) + possibly either αγορά (agorá, “assembly, gathering”) + the suffix -ia or ἀγορεύω (agoreúō, “to speak publicly”).

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌfæntæzməˈɡɒɹi.ə/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌfæntæzməˈɡɔːɹi.ə/

• Audio (US)

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• Rhymes: -ɔːriə

phantasmagoria (plural phantasmagorias)

1. A popular 18th- and 19th-century form of theatre entertainment whereby ghostly apparitions are formed; a magic lantern.
2. A series of events involving rapid changes in light intensity and colour.
3. A dreamlike state where real and imagined elements are blurred together.
   • Sir Walter Scott

     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.

• Phantasmagoria on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Phantasmagoria in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)