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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for delusive
Adjective
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These emails are loaded with deceptive links that lead to malware infections, and the consequences can be severe.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
14 Aug. 2025
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The Center for Democracy and Technology, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University and American Civil Liberties Union say the software companies push deceptive marketing practices, exploit fear, normalize invasion of privacy and erode trust.—
Taylor Seely,
AZCentral.com,
13 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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As a part of the settlement, the false electors acknowledged their actions were used in an attempt to overturn an election.—
Jessie Opoien,
jsonline.com,
23 Aug. 2025
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It’s been a huge year for lashes: Brown and colored mascaras made a comeback, and people have been having fun with false lashes again.—
Sophia Panych,
Allure,
22 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Delusive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/delusive. Accessed 31 Aug. 2025.
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