self-deceived

[ self-di-seevd, self- ]

adjective

1. holding an erroneous opinion of oneself, one's own effort, or the like.
2. being mistaken, forming an erroneous judgment, etc., in one's own mind, as from careless or wishful thinking:

   If you thought my friendship was love, you were self-deceived.

Word History and Origins

Origin of self-deceived¹

First recorded in 1665–75

Example Sentences

Maybe I’m no less self-deceived than anyone else.

From The New Yorker

Could I have been self-deceived, delusional?

From The New Yorker

No, not that the universe is a cold, empty, meaningless void and that hope and justice are pretty lies told by self-deceived fools.

From Washington Post

We know Mumler was a fraud, but we don’t know what kind of fraud — self-deceived true believer, confidence man or both?

From New York Times

These ‘self-deceived’ students also earned overly lofty predictions from their peers.

From Nature