1
as in illusions
a conception or image created by the imagination and having no objective reality
her idea that her new man is a long lost prince is surely just a delusion
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in myths
a false idea or belief
he appears to suffer from the delusion that he's the best reporter in the business
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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Recent Examples of delusions
However, mental health experts now warn that for a small group of vulnerable people, long and emotionally charged conversations with AI may worsen delusions or psychotic symptoms.
—
Staff, FOXNews.com, 9 Jan. 2026
The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke said paralytic dementia symptoms can include delusions along with memory and language problems.
—Don Sweeney, Sacbee.com, 6 Jan. 2026
But in this version, set in a contemporary world resembling our own, where politics is a spectacle, the main character’s delusions revolve around television.
—Erin Somers, The Atlantic, 6 Jan. 2026
According to the defense, Andrea was suffering from persistent delusions and believed that killing her children was the only way to save them from eternal damnation.
—Isabella Wandermurem, Time, 6 Jan. 2026
In Bug on Broadway, Carrie Coon plays a small town waitress caught up in a web of paranoid delusions and conspiracy theories.
—Caitlin Huston, HollywoodReporter, 5 Jan. 2026
OpenAI has faced multiple wrongful death lawsuits this year, alleging ChatGPT encouraged users’ delusions, and claiming conversations with the bot were linked to some users’ suicides.
—Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune, 29 Dec. 2025
Antipsychotic medications can reduce hallucinations and delusions, while therapies and rehabilitations can address specific concerns, like teaching cognitive techniques or enhancing social skills to interact with others.
—Edward Segarra, USA Today, 23 Dec. 2025
But if reality is infused with consciousness, this does at least open up the possibility that mystical experiences might be genuine insights into the nature of reality rather than just strange psychological delusions.
—Big Think, 5 Nov. 2025
Staff, FOXNews.com, 9 Jan. 2026
The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke said paralytic dementia symptoms can include delusions along with memory and language problems.
—Don Sweeney, Sacbee.com, 6 Jan. 2026
But in this version, set in a contemporary world resembling our own, where politics is a spectacle, the main character’s delusions revolve around television.
—Erin Somers, The Atlantic, 6 Jan. 2026
According to the defense, Andrea was suffering from persistent delusions and believed that killing her children was the only way to save them from eternal damnation.
—Isabella Wandermurem, Time, 6 Jan. 2026
In Bug on Broadway, Carrie Coon plays a small town waitress caught up in a web of paranoid delusions and conspiracy theories.
—Caitlin Huston, HollywoodReporter, 5 Jan. 2026
OpenAI has faced multiple wrongful death lawsuits this year, alleging ChatGPT encouraged users’ delusions, and claiming conversations with the bot were linked to some users’ suicides.
—Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune, 29 Dec. 2025
Antipsychotic medications can reduce hallucinations and delusions, while therapies and rehabilitations can address specific concerns, like teaching cognitive techniques or enhancing social skills to interact with others.
—Edward Segarra, USA Today, 23 Dec. 2025
But if reality is infused with consciousness, this does at least open up the possibility that mystical experiences might be genuine insights into the nature of reality rather than just strange psychological delusions.
—Big Think, 5 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for delusions
Noun
-
Yet the Administration’s 28-point plan for Ukraine and the NSS should end any illusions that this approach is working.—
Amanda Sloat,
Time,
2 Jan. 2026
-
With Saturn conjunct Neptune in your seventh house, illusions fade and truth becomes unavoidable.—
Valerie Mesa,
PEOPLE,
31 Dec. 2025
Noun
-
She is revered in those regions, and oral tradition keeps her myths alive.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
6 Jan. 2026
-
One year before Ingri and Edgar Parin D’Aulaire published their compendium of Greek myths, Cicellis released her second work of fiction, The Way to Colonos, which ruthlessly dramatizes the limits of individual freedom and the agony of facing one’s powerlessness.—
Rachel Vorona Cote,
The Atlantic,
5 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
But as his son’s college dreams were coming into focus, Dominique thought about his own path and upbringing.—
Mirin Fader,
New York Times,
7 Jan. 2026
-
Most cops have hero dreams, protector fantasies that sustain them through days that are mostly mundane.—
Jamie Thompson,
The Atlantic,
6 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
In other words, some of those 110-year-olds might just be clerical errors.—
Rachel Macpherson,
Outside,
11 Jan. 2026
-
After months of harping on these errors in film study and practices, Kerr finally went to an unconventional method to inspire change.—
Joseph Dycus,
Mercury News,
11 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
And, once again, fantasies of surgical strikes are yielding to messy realities.—
Daniel Immerwahr,
New Yorker,
10 Jan. 2026
-
Ride a Luge Live out your Milan 2026 fantasies at Michigan's Muskegon Luge Adventure Sports Park.—
Ginger Crichton,
Midwest Living,
9 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
House and Senate lawmakers’ conflicting visions for providing systemic property tax relief fell apart in 2025 as each chamber shot down the other’s constitutional amendment proposal.—
Matthew Kelly,
Kansas City Star,
11 Jan. 2026
-
Who knows what visions may lie ahead?—
Louisa Thomas,
New Yorker,
11 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Alas, my daydreams about adapting an essay from my collection into a limited series TV show turned out to be just that.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
11 Dec. 2025
-
What about those perfect days and the daydreams that had sustained us?—
Michael Paterniti,
Travel + Leisure,
14 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Delusions.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/delusions. Accessed 12 Jan. 2026.
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