Delusion

Delusion
Delusion De*lu"sion . [L. delusio, fr. deludere. See {Delude}.] 1. The act of deluding; deception; a misleading of the mind. --Pope. [1913 Webster]

2. The state of being deluded or misled. [1913 Webster]

3. That which is falsely or delusively believed or propagated; false belief; error in belief. [1913 Webster]

And fondly mourned the dear delusion gone. --Prior.

Syn: {Delusion}, {Illusion}.

Usage: These words both imply some deception practiced upon the mind. Delusion is deception from want of knowledge; illusion is deception from morbid imagination. An illusion is a false show, a mere cheat on the fancy or senses. It is, in other words, some idea or image presented to the bodily or mental vision which does not exist in reality. A delusion is a false judgment, usually affecting the real concerns of life. Or, in other words, it is an erroneous view of something which exists indeed, but has by no means the qualities or attributes ascribed to it. Thus we speak of the illusions of fancy, the illusions of hope, illusive prospects, illusive appearances, etc. In like manner, we speak of the delusions of stockjobbing, the delusions of honorable men, delusive appearances in trade, of being deluded by a seeming excellence. ``A fanatic, either religious or political, is the subject of strong delusions; while the term illusion is applied solely to the visions of an uncontrolled imagination, the chimerical ideas of one blinded by hope, passion, or credulity, or lastly, to spectral and other ocular deceptions, to which the word delusion is never applied.'' --Whately. [1913 Webster]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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  • delusion — delusion, illusion overlap in meaning because both are to do with things wrongly believed or thought for various reasons. There is, however, a distinguishing principle: a delusion is a wrong belief regarded from the point of view of the person… …   Modern English usage

  • delusion — delusion, illusion, hallucination, mirage denote something which is believed to be or is accepted as being true or real but which is actually false or unreal. Delusion in general implies self deception or deception by others; it may connote a… …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • délusion — ⇒DÉLUSION, subst. fém. A. PSYCH. Synon. de délire (cf. POROT 1960). B. PSYCHOL. Erreur de perception dans laquelle un objet réel induit la connaissance. L entendement humain et mortel (...) comme la somme de toutes les délusions (Philos., Relig …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • delusion — index artifice, bad faith, deception, error, fallacy, false pretense, figment, hoax, insanity …   Law dictionary

  • delusión — f. *Ilusión: engaño de los sentidos. * * * delusión. f. ilusión (ǁ concepto o imagen sin verdadera realidad) …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • delusion — act of misleading someone, early 15c.; as a form of mental derangement, 1550s, from L. delusionem (nom. delusio) a deceiving, from pp. stem of deludere (see DELUDE (Cf. delude)). Technically, delusion is a belief that, though false, has been… …   Etymology dictionary

  • delusion — [di lo͞o′zhən] n. [ME delusioun < LL delusio < delusus, pp. of deludere] 1. a deluding or being deluded 2. a false belief or opinion 3. Psychiatry a false, persistent belief maintained in spite of evidence to the contrary delusional adj.… …   English World dictionary

  • Delusion — (lat.), Verspottung, Täuschung; delusorisch, täuschend, trügerisch …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • delusion — [n] misconception, misbelief apparition, blunder, casuistry, chicanery, daydream, deception, deceptiveness, dream, eidolon, error, fallacy, false impression, fancy, fantasy, figment*, fool’s paradise*, ghost, hallucination, head trip*, ignis… …   New thesaurus

  • delusión — f. ilusión (ǁ concepto o imagen sin verdadera realidad) …   Diccionario de la lengua española

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