delude

verb

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de·lude | \ di-ˈlüd

, dē- \

deluded; deluding

Definition of delude

transitive verb

1 : to mislead the mind or judgment of : deceive, trick … people he regards as deluded by the romantic idea that children somehow possess innate knowledge …— Andrew Delbanco … Hamilton apparently deluded himself, as the first Treasury secretary, into thinking his policies patriotic when their effect, Mr. Phillips says, was to put money into silken purses.— Michael Knox Beran

2 obsolete

a : frustrate, disappoint

b : evade, elude

Other Words from delude Synonyms & Antonyms Choose the Right Synonym More Example Sentences Learn More about delude

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Choose the Right Synonym for delude

deceive, mislead, delude, beguile mean to lead astray or frustrate usually by underhandedness. deceive implies imposing a false idea or belief that causes ignorance, bewilderment, or helplessness. tried to deceive me about the cost mislead implies a leading astray that may or may not be intentional. I was misled by the confusing sign delude implies deceiving so thoroughly as to obscure the truth. we were deluded into thinking we were safe beguile stresses the use of charm and persuasion in deceiving. was beguiled by false promises

Examples of delude in a Sentence

we deluded ourselves into thinking that the ice cream wouldn't affect our diet

Recent Examples on the Web And don’t delude yourself that can only happen in some big East Coast city. — oregonlive, "What the coronavirus and a trip to the grocery reveal about ourselves: Tom Hallman at large," 20 Mar. 2020 Macy’s and Kohl’s shouldn’t delude themselves into thinking their would-be customers are simply sitting on the sidelines. — Sarah Halzack | Bloomberg, Washington Post, "It May Already Be Too Late for Macy’s," 22 Nov. 2019 But even a simple reading of the chain of events leading up to the crisis shows how deluded that official narrative is. — Alex Pareene, The New Republic, "Psychopath Nation," 10 Feb. 2020 And that is because of who Trump is: by far the most ignorant, deluded, shameless, and incompetent person ever to serve as president. — Ryan Cooper, TheWeek, "Trump is incapable of taking the coronavirus outbreak seriously," 1 Apr. 2020 Half of us delude ourselves that the country is a classless industrial kingdom of Brunei, battleships and banking, while the other half prefers the view of the opening ceremony of the London Olympics: Bond, Beatles and Mr. Bean. — Crispin Hunt, Billboard, "A Semi-Famous Musician Runs For Office in Brussels (Guest Column)," 17 May 2019 The assumption that a comprehensive aerial assault could bring about a revolution against the Iranian regime is not necessarily deluded. — Steven Simon, The New York Review of Books, "The Middle East: Trump Blunders In," 16 Jan. 2020 Both Zink and Williams are aware of this problem — writers preoccupied not just with gap between intentions and reality, but the extent to which people are willing to delude themselves in order to avoid admitting to that gap. — Rebecca Mccarthy, Longreads, "Climate Messaging: A Case for Negativity," 29 Sep. 2019 In 2001, Scott and I were deluded enough to think the world was going to come to us. We were terrified and intimidated by the concept of booking a tour. — Louis Cheslaw, Condé Nast Traveler, "On Location: Where the Avett Brothers Record, Tour, and Recover," 18 Oct. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'delude.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.