deluding
Feeding false beliefs
Deluding is causing someone to believe something false, or doing so to oneself.
The word emphasizes the victim's willing participation in the deception—we speak of deluding yourself more than being deluded by others.
Stop deluding yourself into thinking he'll change.
She's been deluding her followers for years.
Causing false beliefs
- deceivingCausing false belief
- foolingTricking or joking
- trickingAct of deceiving
- dupingDeliberately misleading another
hoodwinking · beguiling · conning · defrauding · swindling · bamboozling · snookering · hornswoggling
Manufacturing falsely
- distortingMisshaping or falsifying
- misrepresentingPortraying something inaccurately
- falsifyingMaking intentionally untrue
- dissemblingConcealing true motives
prevaricating · equivocating · obfuscating · misinforming · disinforming · spinning · twisting · warping
Idle mental wandering
- fantasizingImagining desired scenarios
- imaginingForming mental pictures
- make-believeImaginative play or fantasy
- escapismHabitual mental retreat
wishful thinking · castle in the air · pipe dream · fool's paradise · head in clouds · unreality · dreamworld · chimera
Inventing acceptable explanations afterward
- denyingRefusing to acknowledge
- fantasizingImagining desired scenarios
- wishful thinkingBelief shaped by desire
- self-justifyingDefending one's own actions
blind spot · in denial · rose-colored glasses · compartmentalizing · repressing · suppressing · willful ignorance · cognitive dissonance
misleading
Causing false beliefs
duping · hoodwinking · beguiling · conning · defrauding · swindling · bamboozling · snookering · hornswoggling · flimflamming
fabricating
Manufacturing falsely
- distortingMisshaping or falsifying
- misrepresentingPortraying something inaccurately
- falsifyingMaking intentionally untrue
dissembling · prevaricating · equivocating · obfuscating · misinforming · disinforming · spinning · twisting · warping · manipulating
daydreaming
Idle mental wandering
- fantasizingImagining desired scenarios
- imaginingForming mental pictures
- make-believeImaginative play or fantasy
escapism · wishful thinking · castle in the air · pipe dream · fool's paradise · head in clouds · unreality · dreamworld · chimera · mirage
rationalizing
Inventing acceptable explanations afterward
- denyingRefusing to acknowledge
- fantasizingImagining desired scenarios
- wishful thinkingBelief shaped by desire
self-justifying · blind spot · in denial · rose-colored glasses · compartmentalizing · repressing · suppressing · willful ignorance · cognitive dissonance · self-serving bias
deludingenlightening
Providing new understanding
disabusing · undeceiving · informing · educating · telling the truth
deludingclarifying
Making something understandable
illuminating · elucidating · explaining · clearing up · shedding light on
illusion, elude, prelude, delusion, delude, interlude, deluded, allude, collude