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ilusión

illusion

noun ee-loo-SYOHN Less Common
Mind & Emotions Emotions

Also means

excitement

Usage Note

Ilusión is a partial false friend: in addition to the English sense of a visual trick or false belief, in Spanish it very commonly means eager anticipation or excitement — ¡Qué ilusión! means 'How exciting!' not 'What an illusion!'. The phrase hacerse ilusiones means 'to get one's hopes up' (sometimes unrealistically).

Examples

"Tengo mucha ilusión por el viaje."

Natural Translation

I'm really excited about the trip.

Literal Translation

I-have much illusion for the trip.

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