delude

verb

de·​lude di-ˈlüd 

dē-

deluded; deluding

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

deluder noun

Synonyms

• deceive
• fool
• trick

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

Allison Janney, in this role, is by turns warm, prickly, deluded, and officious. —Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 11 June 2025

Bernal as a despotic and at times deluded Magellan persuades the Spanish Crown to fund his bold 16th century expedition to the fabled lands of the East, only to unleash a decade of devastation wreaked by European conquistadors in the Pacific as part of colonial conquests. —Etan Vlessing, HollywoodReporter, 3 June 2025

Image The tragedy for America — and for the world — is not that the Democratic Party was deluded about what was at stake in the 2024 race. —Fintan O’Toole, New York Times, 7 Apr. 2025

The foreign policy establishment in the Western nations is in its own way just as deluded as Putin or Trump or Netanyahu in their over-reliance on the unworkable paradigm of deterrence by force of arms, especially weapons of mass-murder. —Winslow Myers, Twin Cities, 7 Feb. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English deluden, dylluden "to deceive, frustrate," borrowed from Latin dēlūdere "to deceive, dupe," from dē- de- + lūdere "to play, jest, spend one's time trivially, trifle with" — more at ludicrous

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for delude

• accrued
• allude
• collude
• conclude
• construed
• debuted
• elude
• endued
• ensued
• eschewed
• etude
• exclude

Kids Definition

delude

verb

de·​lude di-ˈlüd 

deluded; deluding

: to lead into error : mislead the judgment of : deceive, trick

deluded by false promises

deluder noun

Medical Definition

delude

transitive verb

de·​lude di-ˈlüd 

deluded; deluding

: to mislead the mind or judgment of