illusionist

C2+ Topic:People & Society

US /ɪˈluʒənɪst/ UK /ɪˈluːʒənɪst/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
a magician who performs tricks of deception and optical illusion

The illusionist made the entire stage vanish in a flash of smoke.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a magician who performs... magician conjurerprestidigitatortrickster

Word family

Derived forms illusionismillusionistic

Related forms illusion illusory illusive

Etymology

From illusion + -ist, from Latin illusio ('a mocking, deception'), from illudere ('to mock, play with'), from in- ('at') + ludere ('to play').

illusio Latin ludere Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# illusionist

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ɪˈluʒənɪst/
**IPA (UK):** /ɪˈluːʒənɪst/

## Meanings
1. a magician who performs tricks of deception and optical illusion

## Examples
- The illusionist made the entire stage vanish in a flash of smoke.

## Synonyms
- magician
- conjurer
- prestidigitator
- trickster

## Derived Forms
- illusionism
- illusionistic

## Related Forms
- illusion
- illusory
- illusive

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: illusio
- Root: ludere

## Etymology
From illusion + -ist, from Latin illusio ('a mocking, deception'), from illudere ('to mock, play with'), from in- ('at') + ludere ('to play').

## AI Etymology
Illusionist comes from illusion + -ist, from Latin illusio ('a mocking, deception'), from illudere ('to mock, play with'), from in- ('at') + ludere ('to play'). The etymological trail includes Latin illusio and Latin ludere. As a noun, illusionist means a magician who performs tricks of deception and optical illusion. The same family is visible in derived forms such as illusionism and illusionistic and related forms such as illusion, illusory, and illusive. Morphologically, the word is built from the elements named in its history, so the modern form preserves a visible compound, prefix, or suffix structure.

## Topics
- People & Society
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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