Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of delusive
First recorded in 1595–1605; delus(ion) + -ive
Explanation
If you are a C student, and your guidance counselor tells you to apply to MIT and Harvard, his advice may be delusive, or not based in fact, giving a false impression. Your delusive hopes might tempt you to look away from reality, but if you believe delusive statements, you are deluded. What you believe in might be called a delusion. All of these words come from the Latin deludere which means "to play false, deceive." Also related to this word: Ludicrous. When you fall for a delusive idea, you are sometimes seen as ludicrous.
Vocabulary lists containing delusive
"Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death" by Patrick Henry (1775)
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Speech to the Virginia Convention
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A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
After all, if the world and the self are illusions, it is delusive to believe that they can be redeemed.
From The New Yorker ● Nov. 12, 2018
Supporters of #MeToo have, on occasion, adhered to this idea in a sort of delusive optimism.
From The New Yorker ● Oct. 10, 2018
In fact, Martinez says, just as there is a kind of freedom that Martinez wants to defend from delusive ones, there is also a different kind of responsibility that he insists we should accept.
From The Guardian ● Dec. 13, 2016
Condemned to Hope’s delusive mine, As on we toil from day to day, By sudden blasts, or slow decline, Our social comforts drop away.
From Slate ● Feb. 18, 2015
My dear Henschel, Your flattering dream is beautiful—but, I fear, alas, delusive.
From The Letters of Henry James (volume I) by Henry James
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
