delusional

adjective

1
as in illusory

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2
as in delusionary

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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 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 O’Donnell’s characters are usually fresh out of divorces and staying afloat on waves of delusional self-confidence and optimism. — Kathryn Vanarendonk, Vulture, 21 Sep. 2026 Allen was delusional and confused in videos the jurors saw, the appeal says, but the jury was not allowed to hear the audio. — Jenny Porter Tilley, IndyStar, 21 Sep. 2026 Defense lawyer Joshua O’Hara, previewing testimony from a defense psychiatrist, told jurors in an opening statement that Eaton was suffering from a delusional, psychotic disorder after losing his job at a credit union two weeks before the shooting. — Michael R. Sisak, Los Angeles Times, 15 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
  • 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
  • For all of its reliance on dialogue over action, Season of the Witch still manages a tense and, at times, hallucinatory atmosphere.
    — Terrence O'Brien, The Verge, 11 Oct. 2026
Definition of hallucinatory
Adjective
  • What’s emerged is a schizophrenic marketplace where art and commerce have fused into The Substance.
    — Joseph Kahn, HollywoodReporter, 8 Oct. 2026
  • These days, large language models are pushing the line between schizophrenic break and reality closer than ever before.
    — Joe Wilkins, Futurism, 9 Sep. 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
  • Caitlin Clark, Sophie Cunningham, their supporting cast, rival players and neurotic fans and critics combined to form a perfect storm of cultural chaos.
    — Jackson Thompson OutKick, FOXNews.com, 3 Oct. 2026
  • Part of what fueled the ups and downs was the sense that Paul Baker is genially open to whatever life might throw at him — a personality type engineered to drive the acting-out Issa and the neurotic Anton to distraction.
    — Daniel D'Addario, Variety, 30 Sep. 2026
Definition of neurotic
Adjective
  • Born as the score to a surreal short film set on Manchester’s empty streets, the ambient duo’s latest album folds classical instrumentation and field recordings into a mood of deep introspection.
    — Kiana Mickles, Pitchfork, 13 Oct. 2026
  • Larry David has built one of the greatest careers in comedy out of his own hyperfixations, particular neuroses, and the surreal situations these often lead him into.
    — Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 13 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

Browse Nearby Words

delusion
delusional
delusionary
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Cite this Entry

“Delusional.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/delusional. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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