How to Use illusory in a Sentence

illusory

adjective
Definition of illusorynext
Synonyms for illusorynext
  • When people started talking about using the regime's tools to bring about change, that was obviously illusory.
    — Nora Gámez Torres, miamiherald, 29 Aug. 2017
  • Democrats said the big gains for now are illusory since automatic budget cuts known as sequestration remain in place.
    — Andrew Taylor, The Christian Science Monitor, 28 July 2017
  • Your map of the twisting, illusory suburb called Union fills out with pips to explore for more ammo, crafting resources, and skill points.
    — Steven Strom, Ars Technica, 16 Oct. 2017
  • The Web as a freewheeling, democratic platform has been an illusory concept for the better part of a decade.
    — Travis Kavulla, National Review, 13 July 2017
  • This is why September baseball results can be illusory.
    — Paul Daugherty, Cincinnati.com, 21 Sep. 2017
  • None of these approaches has eradicated terrorism, a goal that is arguably illusory.
    — David Rohde, The New Yorker, 23 May 2017
  • But the assumption that democracy can be gradually transferred to the European level has also proved to be illusory.
    — Steven Erlanger, Orange County Register, 25 Mar. 2017
  • So what if my illusory sheep are the size of the White House?
    — Anchorage Daily News, 20 June 2020
  • This is not a case where the right to vote is illusory.
    — Andrew C. McCarthy, National Review, 3 Nov. 2020
  • Try not to build castles in the air when Mars unites with illusory Neptune in your sign on the 29th.
    — Debbie Frank, Peoplemag, 10 Apr. 2024
  • But the past two weeks have been a reminder that refuge can be illusory.
    — Jason L. Riley, WSJ, 17 Mar. 2020
  • The illusory all-screen phone design is no longer just a dream.
    — Chris Smith, BGR, 30 June 2021
  • Now, a new study in Science shows that this idea is illusory.
    — Grace Huckins, WIRED, 12 Dec. 2022
  • However illusory, however briefly, the weak can topple the strong, and the great chasms of the world seem to shrink.
    — Kanishk Tharoor, The Atlantic, 14 July 2018
  • The concept of money might be the greatest illusory trick of all time.
    — David Z. Morris, Fortune, 9 Sep. 2020
  • The risks of banning such a text far outweigh the illusory rewards.
    — Lisa Deaderick, San Diego Union-Tribune, 27 June 2021
  • The felines chose the illusory square seven times, nearly as much as the eight times cats chose real squares.
    — Chris Smith, BGR, 12 May 2021
  • But in Les Misérables, Ly shows how illusory that sense was.
    — Time, 6 Feb. 2020
  • With rates rising and the Fed’s pile of Treasurys being sold down, those gains might prove illusory.
    — James MacKintosh, WSJ, 4 June 2018
  • In that case, the 3-D world is illusory in the sense that different parts of it aren’t all that independent.
    — Quanta Magazine, 6 Mar. 2018
  • Some of it may be very good; some of it may be completely illusory or even harmful.
    — John Koetsier, Forbes, 19 Mar. 2022
  • Empress > Temptress: Someone who keeps luring me in with the illusory hope of winning a prize.
    — Pat Myers, Washington Post, 2 June 2022
  • Patterns can be illusory and the new rules based on them premature.
    — Joseph Reagle, Quartzy, 16 June 2019
  • But all the comic hysteria on the right doesn’t mean the threat is entirely illusory.
    — Washington Post, 4 Mar. 2021
  • Keckley’s designs date to just before the Gilded Age, whose name was coined by Mark Twain in a nod to the illusory nature of the period.
    — Meilan Solly, Smithsonian Magazine, 3 May 2022
  • But the supply worries are easing, and may have been illusory.
    — George Calhoun, Forbes, 3 Oct. 2022
  • Just 30 cats saw the experiment through to the end, most of whom expressed no interest in any floor shapes at all, illusory or not.
    — Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 12 May 2021
  • But peace is illusory as long as Hamas remains in power.
    — Phil Klay, The Atlantic, 28 Mar. 2024
  • Even a show of support for the Communists proved illusory.
    — New York Times, 11 Sep. 2019
  • Their work raised the question of whether time and space are somehow illusory, an unsettling prospect that has haunted Western philosophy for more than two millennia.
    — Adam Becker, Scientific American, 1 Feb. 2022

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'illusory.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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