delusion

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 holding it (and has special uses in psychiatry, as in delusions of grandeur), whereas an illusion is a wrong belief or impression regarded externally. Delusion, unlike illusion, has a corresponding verb, delude, and the action of this verb is sometimes implicit in the choice between delusion and illusion. The following examples will help to clarify these points: (delusion)

• He suffered from the delusion that everything smelled of cats —Arthur Koestler, 1947

• That was the way delusions started, thinking there was anti-Jewish feeling when there wasn't —P. H. Newby, 1968

• Amorous delusions concerning…a lecherously attentive neighbour and her kindly but pre-occupied husband —Daily Telegraph, 1970

• Ed continues to labour under the delusion that I'm a Liverpool fan —Guardian Unlimited, 2003

• In the world as we know it…freedom is largely an illusion —J. M. Roberts, 1975

• The illusion must be maintained that this was a purely Polish debate with no intrusion being made by the Soviet Union —J. A. Mitchener, 1983

• Alfred Crowther loved his first-born child, but he had no illusions about him —B. T. Bradford, 1986.


Modern English usage. 2014.

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Synonyms:
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Look at other dictionaries:

  • 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… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • 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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