MEANING
The tendency to perceive a recognizable image or meaningful form in an ambiguous or random visual pattern.
Use it for
Faces perceived in bodily scars or stains; ambiguous visual evidence; uncertainty between pattern and presenceOffer a plausible perceptual explanation without proving that the apparent face is harmless.
Words that belong together
- facial pareidolia
- visual pareidolia
- explain by pareidolia
On the page
She blamed pareidolia for the face in the bruises.
The image might be pareidolia, but the arrangement of marks kept changing.
To test whether pareidolia explained the apparent face, he showed the photograph to someone who knew nothing of the case.
Nearby words
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- pareidolia
Usage notes
Primary category: horror. A normal perceptual tendency, not necessarily illness or a hallucination. Useful when the unsettling shape may be present only in the observer's interpretation. Usually uncountable in this sense; no routine plural. Derived/related family (not inflections): pareidolic (adjective).
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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