delusion

English

Etymology

From Latin delusio.

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /dɪˈluːʒən/
  • Rhymes: -uːʒən

Noun

delusion (plural delusions)

  1. A false belief that is resistant to confrontation with actual facts.
  2. The state of being deluded or misled.
    It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
  3. That which is falsely or delusively believed or propagated; false belief; error in belief.
    • 1960, William L. Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany, New York: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, LCCN 81101072, page 835:
      Hess, always a muddled man though not so doltish as Rosenberg, flew on his own to Britain under the delusion that he could arrange a peace settlement.

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for delusion in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.)

Derived terms

Translations

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Further reading

  • delusion in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913

Anagrams

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