as in misleading
tending or having power to deceive
delusive promises of high-paying jobs for low-skilled workers
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Recent Examples of delusive
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
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, 5 July 2022
Much of formal education over the past 50 years or so, especially in the humanities, has become a delusive exercise in mass evasion of this discomfiting truth.
—Tracy Lee Simmons, National Review, 15 Oct. 2020
Many less attractive traits are also recorded: Charles could be uncommunicative and dilatory, evasive and mendacious, refractory, vindictive, obstinate, even outright wicked, though self-delusive about the motives of others.
—R.j.w. Evans, The New York Review of Books, 11 June 2020
Hillary Kelly, The New Yorker, 21 Feb. 2024
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, 5 July 2022
Much of formal education over the past 50 years or so, especially in the humanities, has become a delusive exercise in mass evasion of this discomfiting truth.
—Tracy Lee Simmons, National Review, 15 Oct. 2020
Many less attractive traits are also recorded: Charles could be uncommunicative and dilatory, evasive and mendacious, refractory, vindictive, obstinate, even outright wicked, though self-delusive about the motives of others.
—R.j.w. Evans, The New York Review of Books, 11 June 2020
Recent Examples of Synonyms for delusive
Adjective
-
Despite the misleading context and language, 46% of Virginians voted against the amendment.—
Gary Franks,
Hartford Courant,
3 May 2026
-
Suggesting that law enforcement needs to monitor the movements of the entire population to solve crimes is both misleading and historically false.—
DP Opinion,
Denver Post,
2 May 2026
Adjective
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Charted on an outdated seating map weeks before the official on-sale date, these deceptive listings falsely suggested the performance was almost sold out.—
Lori Dimun,
Chicago Tribune,
6 May 2026
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There is a broader issue of manufacturers selling dangerous products and promoting them with deceptive advertising to lure youth into using their dangerous, ineffective products.—
Jad Abdel Nour,
Hartford Courant,
4 May 2026
Adjective
-
The boy’s mother, Tommi Jo Mejer, 50, of Aliso Viejo, was arrested days after the accident and charged with child endangerment, accessory after the fact, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and providing false information to a peace officer.—
Fedor Zarkhin,
Los Angeles Times,
1 May 2026
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The boy’s mother, 50-year-old Tommi Jo Mejer of Aliso Viejo, was later arrested and charged with felony child endangerment, being an accessory after the fact and several misdemeanors, including contributing to the delinquency of a minor and providing false information to a peace officer.—
Sydney Barragan,
Oc Register,
1 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Delusive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/delusive. Accessed 9 May. 2026.
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