phantasmagoria

Noun

  1. a constantly changing medley of real or imagined images (as in a dream)
    • Less specific
      • representation
      • mental representation
      • internal representation
    • Related
      • phantasmagoric
      • phantasmagorical
      • surreal
      • surrealistic
      • phantasmagoric
      • phantasmagorical
      • surreal
      • surrealistic

  1. a sequence of real or imaginary images like that seen in a dream
    what happened next was a phantasmagoria of horror and mystery

Origin

early 19th century (originally the name of a London exhibition (1802) of optical illusions produced chiefly by magic lantern): probably from French fantasmagorie , from fantasme phantasm + a fanciful suffix