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.
Though “American hegemony” offered some benefits—“open sea lanes, a stable financial system, collective security and support for frameworks for resolving disputes”—it also required collective self-deception.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 30, 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
This seems to be more of a problem than he’s admitting, and it’s not the only self-deception he practices.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 14, 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
He remembered remembering contrary things, but those were false memories, products of self-deception.
From "1984" by George Orwell
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.
