1
as in illusory
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2
as in delusionary
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Recent Examples of delusional
There are many efforts underway by AI scholars, research labs, and AI makers to devise AI so that the AI can do a better job at coping with human delusional thinking.
—
Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 2 Sep. 2025
There have also been growing concerns about users forming emotional attachments to ChatGPT, in some cases resulting in delusional episodes and alienation from family, as reports from The New York Times and CNN have indicated.
—Lisa Eadicicco, CNN Money, 2 Sep. 2025
Not even the most delusional Pakistanis believe that the country has any oil reserves.
—Mohammed Hanif, Time, 2 Sep. 2025
Certainly, delusional Cowboys fans think their team is capable of winning more than seven games and at least reaching the playoffs.
—Jim Reineking, USA Today, 29 Aug. 2025
Even worse, Jones’ tone was delusional.
—Michael Silver, New York Times, 29 Aug. 2025
But to envision Mars as some sort of utopian substitute for Earth is truly delusional.
—Jon Allsop, New Yorker, 29 Aug. 2025
These people often perceive chatbots as an authority that can validate their delusional ideas, often encouraging them in ways that become harmful.
—ArsTechnica, 28 Aug. 2025
Trump keeps clamoring for a Nobel Peace Prize, but his hopes are delusional since his incompetent dealings with Putin and Netanyahu have enabled them to continue their dastardly deeds.
—Chicago Tribune, 21 Aug. 2025
Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 2 Sep. 2025
There have also been growing concerns about users forming emotional attachments to ChatGPT, in some cases resulting in delusional episodes and alienation from family, as reports from The New York Times and CNN have indicated.
—Lisa Eadicicco, CNN Money, 2 Sep. 2025
Not even the most delusional Pakistanis believe that the country has any oil reserves.
—Mohammed Hanif, Time, 2 Sep. 2025
Certainly, delusional Cowboys fans think their team is capable of winning more than seven games and at least reaching the playoffs.
—Jim Reineking, USA Today, 29 Aug. 2025
Even worse, Jones’ tone was delusional.
—Michael Silver, New York Times, 29 Aug. 2025
But to envision Mars as some sort of utopian substitute for Earth is truly delusional.
—Jon Allsop, New Yorker, 29 Aug. 2025
These people often perceive chatbots as an authority that can validate their delusional ideas, often encouraging them in ways that become harmful.
—ArsTechnica, 28 Aug. 2025
Trump keeps clamoring for a Nobel Peace Prize, but his hopes are delusional since his incompetent dealings with Putin and Netanyahu have enabled them to continue their dastardly deeds.
—Chicago Tribune, 21 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for delusional
Adjective
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In conclusion, several factors, starting from the extent of our exposure to horoscopes to illusory correlation, can play a role in your astrology beliefs, but those are not necessarily the same factors that influence the strength of your relationship, as the aforementioned study shows.—
Mark Travers,
Forbes.com,
26 Aug. 2025
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Auctions are built on an illusory symmetry of hope.—
Sam Knight,
New Yorker,
25 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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In Spark, the effect is hallucinatory, resulting in a type of hyperreality that, to me, constitutes an interesting representation of the intellectual experience of femininity.—
Rachel Cusk,
New Yorker,
24 Aug. 2025
-
Alternating between 2004 and the early 1980s, evoked in hallucinatory, grainy flashbacks, Romería achingly dramatizes the processes of creating new memories and holding onto fleeting ones.—
Jill Goldsmith,
Deadline,
5 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Don’t be paranoid, just be honest with yourself (and your wallet).—
Valerie Mesa,
People.com,
2 Sep. 2025
-
What follows is a crusade of detours, espionage and a paranoid struggle to preserve a vanishing world — and the only home he’s ever known.—
Elsa Keslassy,
Variety,
31 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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This isn’t callousness or delusive optimism but, rather, a rebellion against the suffocating expectation that the elderly have foreclosed the possibility of joy.—
Hillary Kelly,
The New Yorker,
21 Feb. 2024
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To separate art from its historical framework is futile, and to reject it in an effort to censor past violence is a delusive act of virtue signaling.—
WSJ,
WSJ,
5 July 2022
Adjective
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Advertisement Hawley worked from a similar playbook with Legion, whose apparently schizophrenic superhero filtered a fast-evolving cultural conversation around mental illness through a psychedelic kaleidoscope, and especially Fargo.—
Judy Berman,
Time,
5 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Eichner’s neurotic character is there to enlist Honey in learning the details of his boyfriend’s affair.—
Paul A. Thompson,
Pitchfork,
26 Aug. 2025
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The family in the film has its problems, and not all of them get solved; in many ways, the parents of Parenthood are far more neurotic than the kids.—
Will Leitch,
Vulture,
22 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Mad Max is set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland that is at once striking and surreal.—
Rachel Cormack,
Robb Report,
3 Sep. 2025
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There was a surreal end to the race, with Vingegaard and Pidcock unsure of where exactly the new finish line was.—
CNN Money,
CNN Money,
3 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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The idea of a schizoid Lady M is not entirely without appeal, but despite strong performances across the board, the work runs aground fast.—
Rhoda Feng,
Washington Post,
14 Apr. 2024
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The entire movie, of course, was a goof, a schizoid cardboard Vaudeville horror burlesque shot in two days and a night by Roger Corman.—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
12 Apr. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Delusional.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/delusional. Accessed 10 Sep. 2025.
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