self-deception
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of self-deception
First recorded in 1670–80
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.
Diplomacy divorced from that reality risks becoming not statecraft, but self-deception.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 20, 2026
Fairy In A Bottle is a glorious bruise of a song, all about Alon's capacity for self-deception: "I want to worship you before the hope expires."
From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2025
To not see this for what it is can be attributed to being naïve and gullible, to self-deception by outright denial, or to being complicit.
From Salon ● Feb. 26, 2025
Anything that we’re afraid of that isn’t happening now is a self-deception.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 7, 2025
To ignore this science is to engage in self-deception, to tell ourselves a lie.
From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
