Word of the Day – Pareidolia

Pareidolia (noun)

par-a-doe-lee-a

the illusory perception of meaningful patterns or images of familiar things in random or amorphous data, as a face seen on the moon.

First recorded in 1960–65 and comes from German Pareidolien, plural of Pareidolie.
Pareidolie is formed from par(a)– “at the side of; beside; beyond,” and eidol(on) “phantom; apparition.”

Example sentences

“The roses on the wallpaper all look like faces even though I know it’s just pareidolia”