delusional

adjective

1
as in illusory

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2
as in delusionary

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Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of delusional Mental health experts have voiced concerns about chatbots’ sycophancy, lack of clinical nuance, and ability to reinforce delusional beliefs. — Andrew R. Chow, Time, 22 Oct. 2026 What helped turn this childhood quirk into a pilot script was a little research into Capgras syndrome, one hell of a delusional disorder that affects the rare patient who firmly believes a family member or close friend is an impostor. — Mikey O'Connell, HollywoodReporter, 22 Oct. 2026 These fictional chips are then summoned into existence by the delusional commitment of more than two million chip-industry employees to the perpetuation of a self-fulfilling prophecy. — Gideon Lewis-Kraus, New Yorker, 19 Oct. 2026 No one has the courage to break through his delusional bubble and confront him with the hard facts. — Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 14 Oct. 2026 However, having a fake lower handicap which most tournaments only take 85% to prevent sandbaggers will hurt a delusional golfer in the end. — Joe Kinsey Outkick, FOXNews.com, 12 Oct. 2026 Through the season’s first two weeks, any thoughts of the Falcons contending for a playoff spot appeared delusional and all conversations appeared moot. — Daniel Flick, AJC.com, 7 Oct. 2026 Normally, an agonizing 97-loss season gets immediately washed away by the glorious, delusional churn of the Hot Stove. — Dieter Kurtenbach, Mercury News, 28 Sep. 2026 The manuscript Wayne read to us that night chronicled his involvement with Gloria Swanson, the towering star of Hollywood’s Golden Age who enjoyed latter-day acclaim in 1950 playing a delusional has-been in Sunset Boulevard. — Mike Hogan, Vanity Fair, 24 Sep. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for delusional
  1. illusory
  2. paranoid
  3. hallucinatory
  4. schizophrenic
  5. delusive
  6. neurotic
  7. surreal
  8. schizoid
Adjective
  • Thomas drives away with a limp, malfunctioning Vision next to him, and an illusory, wisecracking Ultron in the back seat.
    — Tasha Robinson, Vulture, 14 Oct. 2026
  • Yet these promises of a self-running state are illusory, because AI is never truly autonomous.
    — Seva Gunitsky, Foreign Affairs, 1 Oct. 2026
Definition of illusory
Adjective
  • The situation became murkier as French lawyer Suzane Blum took increasing control over the affairs of Simpson, who had become increasingly paranoid and befuddled.
    — Hadley Hall Meares, Vanity Fair, 7 Oct. 2026
  • The bald guy lecturing me on how to get the money looked real enough, but the question of his true being kept rattling around my increasingly paranoid mind.
    — Vinson Cunningham, New Yorker, 29 Sep. 2026
Definition of paranoid
Adjective
  • Rubio weaves stories about heartbreak, drugs, and the slippery, occasionally hallucinatory process of finding your way back to your own life.
    — Sophie Miller, Rolling Stone, 16 Oct. 2026
  • There’s a real opportunity in the fourth episode to do something fun, or at least interesting, when Tyson convinces Russ to join him in smoking hallucinatory toad venom, but no flair or flourishes emerge.
    — Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of hallucinatory
Adjective
  • The 911 caller told police that their schizophrenic son had struck her 69-year-old husband on the head with a hammer.
    — WCCO Staff, CBS News, 21 Oct. 2026
  • What’s emerged is a schizophrenic marketplace where art and commerce have fused into The Substance.
    — Joseph Kahn, HollywoodReporter, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of schizophrenic
Adjective
  • This isn’t callousness or delusive optimism but, rather, a rebellion against the suffocating expectation that the elderly have foreclosed the possibility of joy.
    — Hillary Kelly, The New Yorker, 21 Feb. 2024
  • To separate art from its historical framework is futile, and to reject it in an effort to censor past violence is a delusive act of virtue signaling.
    — WSJ, WSJ, 5 July 2022
Definition of delusive
Adjective
  • The professionalization worked, but at the expense of the site’s internal culture, Cooke argues, as generous eccentrics were displaced by neurotic lovers of rules.
    — Julian Lucas, New Yorker, 21 Oct. 2026
  • Ludwig is the twitchy, neurotic, charming character that Mitchell was born to play.
    — Savannah Salazar, Vulture, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of neurotic
Adjective
  • But those unfamiliar with his surreal talk show appearances, Dumb Starbucks or Door City, here’s a primer on the origin and rise of Fielder.
    — Jenelle Riley, Los Angeles Times, 22 Oct. 2026
  • Rick Rubin episode, and that episode in particular allowed the show to take on this more surreal A24-esque turn, especially in season three.
    — Brian Davids, HollywoodReporter, 21 Oct. 2026
Definition of surreal
Adjective
  • The artist adopts a schizoid persona, with multiple voices flowing out of him, and swerves between lucid social criticism—about the history of slavery or of higher education—and total gibberish.
    — Zachary Fine, New Yorker, 10 Aug. 2026
  • The idea of a schizoid Lady M is not entirely without appeal, but despite strong performances across the board, the work runs aground fast.
    — Rhoda Feng, Washington Post, 14 Apr. 2024
Definition of schizoid

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Cite this Entry

“Delusional.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/delusional. Accessed 28 Oct. 2026.

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