delude
Feed false beliefs
To delude is to mislead or deceive, especially by causing someone to believe something false: He deluded himself into thinking she would come back.
The word often implies self-deception—people delude themselves more often than others delude them.
A delusion is a false belief persistently held despite evidence to the contrary.
Cause false belief
- dupeDeceive or victim
- hoodwinkTrick into false belief
- beguileCharm into deception
- misleadCause false belief
bamboozle · con · trick · fool · cozen · gull · take in · lead astray
Control through clever influence
- brainwashCoercively alter beliefs
- gaslightDistort someone's reality
- indoctrinateImplant fixed beliefs
- influencePower to affect others
propaganda · spin · exploit · coerce · persuade · control · psyops · disinformation
Misleading sensory impression
- mirageAtmospheric optical deception
- hallucinationPerception without external cause
- fantasyImaginative mental wandering
- figmentImagined thing, unreal
chimera · false impression · misperception · distortion · false belief · apparition · phantasm · dream
Refusal to accept reality
- rationalizeExplain with invented reasons
- wishful thinkingBelief shaped by desire
- blind spotArea of blocked perception
- self-deceptionConvincing yourself of falsehoods
fantasy · pipe dream · willful ignorance · cognitive dissonance · rose-colored glasses · in denial · head in sand · compartmentalize
One with grandiose self-image
- narcissistSelf-obsessed person
- grandiosePretentiously impressive in scale
- hubrisRuinous excessive confidence
- messiah complexDelusion of being humanity's rescuer
overconfident · self-aggrandizing · pompous · vainglory · delusional · pretentious · superiority complex
deceive
Cause false belief
mislead · bamboozle · con · trick · fool · cozen · gull · take in · lead astray · pull the wool over
manipulate
Control through clever influence
- brainwashCoercively alter beliefs
- gaslightDistort someone's reality
- indoctrinateImplant fixed beliefs
influence · propaganda · spin · exploit · coerce · persuade · control · psyops · disinformation · misinform
illusion
Misleading sensory impression
- mirageAtmospheric optical deception
- hallucinationPerception without external cause
- fantasyImaginative mental wandering
figment · chimera · false impression · misperception · distortion · false belief · apparition · phantasm · dream · daydream
denial
Refusal to accept reality
- rationalizeExplain with invented reasons
- wishful thinkingBelief shaped by desire
- blind spotArea of blocked perception
self-deception · fantasy · pipe dream · willful ignorance · cognitive dissonance · rose-colored glasses · in denial · head in sand · compartmentalize · selective memory
megalomaniac
One with grandiose self-image
- narcissistSelf-obsessed person
- grandiosePretentiously impressive in scale
- hubrisRuinous excessive confidence
messiah complex · overconfident · self-aggrandizing · pompous · vainglory · delusional · pretentious · superiority complex
deludeenlighten
Impart knowledge or wisdom
disabuse · undeceive · disillusion · inform · set straight
deludeenlighten
Impart knowledge or wisdom
disillusion · undeceive · clarify · illuminate · unmask
- delusions of grandeurFalse belief in superiority
- mass delusionWidespread false belief shared socially
- shared delusionBelief transmitted between minds
- collective delusionWidespread acceptance of falsehood
- grandiose delusionsUnfounded beliefs of superiority
- The God DelusionArgument against theistic belief
delusion, deluded, delusions, delusive, deluding, deludes, delusory, deluder, self-delusion