delude

American  

[dih-lood] / dɪˈlud /

verb (used with object)

deluded, deluding

1. to mislead the mind or judgment of; deceive.

   His conceit deluded him into believing he was important.

   Synonyms:

   gull, defraud, cheat, dupe, cozen, beguile

2. Obsolete. to mock or frustrate the hopes or aims of.

3. Obsolete. to elude; evade.

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delude British  

/ dɪˈluːd /

verb

1. to deceive the mind or judgment of; mislead; beguile

2. rare to frustrate (hopes, expectations, etc)

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Other Word Forms

• deludable adjective
• deluder noun
• deludingly adverb
• nondeluding adjective
• undeluding adjective

Etymology

Origin of delude

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English deluden, from Latin dēlūdere “to play false,” equivalent to dē- de- + lūdere “to play”

Explanation

To delude is to trick or fool, often in relation to yourself. If you delude yourself into thinking your mom's chocolate cake is low in fat, you'll be disappointed to find out it's made with two sticks of butter! If you delude someone into thinking something, you are making a fool of them, or making them foolish. The word shares a root with ludicrous which means completely ridiculous. The thing that you foolishly believe is a delusion. Someone with delusions of grandeur has deluded themselves into thinking they are very, very special.

Example Sentences

“We can delude ourselves for a while that this is not a real cost, but we’re only fooling ourselves at the end of the day,” he says.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 23, 2026

If I ever delude myself that I’ve become an “expert” at writing, it might be time for the urn.

From Salon • Apr. 5, 2024

His goal was to delude the rest of us.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 2, 2023

“Let’s not delude ourselves, Mr. Diab will never be extradited from Canada,” he said.

From New York Times • Apr. 21, 2023

He could no longer delude Kira into thinking this was an ordinary journey.

From "Messenger" by Lois Lowry

Related Words

• dupe
• hoodwink
• misguide
• mislead