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delusional

delusional

156 7.9
Believing things that are not true
  • adjective
  • /dɪˈluːʒənl/
translation icon : delirante
  • After years of believing in a conspiracy theory, he finally admitted that his views were delusional.
  • delusional beliefs
  • a delusional world
  • delusional thinking

And does it not take a naive, delusional human to change?

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Examples

  • You know, it's, it's, it's delusional to think that we can't do better.

  • Of course, I was as delusional about Robert as I was with regard to my mother.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • So if I look or sound delusional, you got to let me live.

  • But that guy was just some delusional man with his own wild ideas.

  • It's like a delusional fan, essentially.

  • His delusional need for blood was the primary motivation for what he did.

  • You suffer from a delusional disorder.

  • You're starting to sound delusional.

  • In reading the note from the hunchback, we have further evidence that he is delusional.

    Academic text (2016)
  • Finally, contrary to what some of his critics may think, he is neither delusional nor deceptive.

    Academic text (2007)

Synonyms

psychotic
vsdelusional
  • Specialized
167 8.4

Not in touch with reality and may see or hear things that are not there

involves false or unrealistic beliefs without necessarily severe reality loss
delusionary
vsdelusional
1 8.0

Giving a false idea that something is true

is a condition of holding firm false beliefs or unrealistic opinions
illusional
vsdelusional
1 9.4

Appearing real when it is not

is about holding firm false beliefs rather than mere appearance

Antonyms

283 3.7

Having sensible ideas about what can be achieved

119 3.2

Having a healthy mind and able to think clearly

Compounds

delusional disorder
  • Specialized
1 7.7

A mental health problem with strong false beliefs that last a long time and do not change when shown proof

How Delusional

delusional
156 7.9
misguided
129 4.6
mistaken
266 3.4

Surface Forms

delusional positive

Morphology

delusional = delusion (transparent) = delude + ion + al

The adjective is formed regularly from the noun 'delusion' with the suffix '-al', so the meaning is easy to recover from the base.

Etymology

Delusional comes from the Latin deludere, where de- means 'away' and ludere means 'to play'. A helpful image is a 'trick' or 'play' that pulls someone away from the truth, and that's why someone who is delusional has false or unrealistic beliefs.