delude

verb de·lude \ di-ˈlüd , dē- \

Updated on: 19 Apr 2018

Definition of delude

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

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deluder

noun

See delude defined for English-language learners

See delude defined for kids

Examples of delude in a Sentence

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

Recent Examples of delude from the Web

These earth signs would rather accept reality than delude themselves.

— aliza kelly faragher, Allure, "How Each Zodiac Sign Handles a Breakup," 11 Apr. 2018
Mediocre for a while, briefly pretty decent and then, for most of my adult life, awful, sprinkled with moments of fleeting brilliance that delude me into returning.

— tim layden, SI.com, "My First Time at Augusta National," 4 Apr. 2018
To this viewer, at least, this decision seemed like a bold rebuke to any man who ever deluded himself into thinking a woman reveling in her own sexuality was asking for it.

— New York Times, "The Invisible Man and the Defiant Woman go to the Oscars," 4 Mar. 2018
Steve Fraser thinks his fellow Americans grossly deluded on the subject, and has written his book to straighten us out.

— joseph epstein, WSJ, "‘Class Matters’ Review: The American Dream as Nightmare," 22 Mar. 2018
Anyone claiming that those young people are political pawns are deluding themselves.

— rochelle riley, Detroit Free Press, "Riley: Parkland shooting should have spurred more political disobedience," 25 Feb. 2018
The Crown has just enough European history in Queen Elizabeth II’s saga to delude both of you into considering episodes educational, which is a bonus.

— beca grimm, GQ, "The Lazy Couple’s Guide to a Valentine’s Day Netflix Binge," 12 Feb. 2018
Then on Tuesday, a new CNN poll confirms that Biden is not deluding himself by considering a third White House run.

— myra adams, National Review, "Why You Should Ignore Every 2020 Poll," 25 Jan. 2018
Best actress in a play With a tour-de-force performance as one of Tennessee Williams' most abrasive and delightfully deluded heroines, Janet Shea maintains her standing as the first lady of the New Orleans stage.

— melinda morris, NOLA.com, "Chrissy Teigen is psyched about WrestleMania 34 -- and New Orleans," 29 Dec. 2017

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.

Origin and Etymology of delude

Middle English, from Latin deludere, from de- + ludere to play — more at ludicrous

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First Known Use: 15th century

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delude Synonyms

Phrases

do a number on, lead one down the garden path (also lead one up the garden path), pull one's leg, pull the wool over one's eyes;

Synonym Discussion of 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.