delusive

D2E1L1U1S1I1V4E1

adjective

Producing delusions.

RareScrabble 12

Meanings

adjectivedelusive (comparative more delusive, superlative most delusive)

comparative more delusive · superlative most delusive

  1. Producing delusions.
  2. Inappropriate to reality; forming part of a delusion.

    [I]t seemed calculated to suggest ideas she had no intention to suggest: ideas delusive and disturbing.

    1849, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], “Further Communications on Business”, in Shirley. A Tale. […], volume II, London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], →OCLC, page 71
    2 more examples

    The poor thing was finally got off, with several delusive assurances that his absence should be short: that Mr. Edgar and Cathy would visit him, and other promises, equally ill-founded, which I invented and reiterated at intervals throughout the way.

    1847, Emily Brontë, chapter XX, in Wuthering Heights

    I opened my eyes, I rubbed them, and found I was not asleep but thoroughly awake. Nevertheless, I felt my head and breast to satisfy myself whether it was I myself who was there or some empty delusive phantom; but touch, feeling, the collected thoughts that passed through my mind, all convinced me that I was the same then and there that I am this moment.

    1885, Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, “Of the Wonderful Things the Incomparable Don Quixote Said He Saw in the Profound Cave of Montesinos, the Impossibility and Magnitude of which Cause this Adventure to be Deemed Apocryphal”, in John Ormsby, transl., The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha […] In Four Vols, volume III, London: Smith, Elder & Co. […], →OCLC, part II, page 249

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectiveinappropriate to reality or facts

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

Translations

Bulgarian измамен, илюзорен
  • измамен (izmamen)inappropriate to reality
  • илюзорен (iljuzoren)inappropriate to reality
Finnish petollinen, harhaanjohtava
  • petollineninappropriate to reality
  • harhaanjohtavainappropriate to reality
Hindi भ्रामक
  • भ्रामक (bhrāmak)inappropriate to reality
Romanian deluzoriu
  • deluzoriuinappropriate to reality
Scottish Gaelic mealltach
  • mealltachinappropriate to reality
Spanish delusivo
  • delusivoinappropriate to reality
Cite this entry
APA

delusive. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/delusive

MLA

“delusive.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/delusive. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “delusive,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/delusive.

Source: delusive on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.