de·lu·sion

[dih-loo-zhuhn]
noun
1.
an act or instance of deluding.
2.
the state of being deluded.
3.
a false belief or opinion: delusions of grandeur.
4.
Psychiatry. a fixed false belief that is resistant to reason or confrontation with actual fact: a paranoid delusion.

Origin:
1375–1425; late Middle English < Latin dēlūsiōn- (stem of dēlūsiō), equivalent to dēlūs(us) (past participle of dēlūdere; see delude) + -iōn- -ion

de·lu·sion·al, de·lu·sion·ar·y, adjective
pre·de·lu·sion, noun

allusion, delusion, elusion, hallucination, illusion (see synonym study at illusion).


1. deception. See illusion.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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00:10
Delusions is always a great word to know.
So is quincunx. Does it mean:
a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal.
an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.
Collins
World English Dictionary
delusion (dɪˈluːʒən) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
n
1.  a mistaken or misleading opinion, idea, belief, etc: he has delusions of grandeur
2.  psychiatry illusion See also hallucination a belief held in the face of evidence to the contrary, that is resistant to all reason
3.  the act of deluding or state of being deluded
 
de'lusional
 
adj
 
de'lusive
 
adj
 
de'lusively
 
adv
 
de'lusiveness
 
n
 
delusory
 
adj

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
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Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

delusion
"act of misleading someone," early 15c.; as a form of mental derangement, 1550s. See delude. Technically, delusion is a belief that, though false, has been surrendered to and accepted by the whole mind as a truth; illusion is an impression that, though false, is entertained
provisionally on the recommendation of the senses or the imagination, but awaits full acceptance and may not influence action. Delusions of grandeur, the exact phrase, is recorded from 1840, though the two words were in close association for some time before that.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary

delusion de·lu·sion (dĭ-l&oomacr;'zhən)
n.
A false belief strongly held in spite of invalidating evidence, especially as a symptom of mental illness.


de·lu'sion·al adj.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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American Heritage
Science Dictionary
delusion   (dĭ-l'zhən)  Pronunciation Key 
A false belief strongly held in spite of invalidating evidence, especially as a symptom of mental illness, as in schizophrenia.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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American Heritage
Cultural Dictionary

delusion definition


A false belief held despite strong evidence against it; self-deception. Delusions are common in some forms of psychosis. Because of his delusions, the literary character Don Quixote attacks a windmill, thinking it is a giant.

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Example sentences
As the delusions get deeper, so does the gross stuff.
They will believe anything that lets them feel at ease in their delusions
  rather then face that reality.
He did so, and now everything as far as under what delusions he labors, is
  clear.
Comparing subjective faith in primitive delusions to objective everyday
  observations is a good one.
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