DISILLUSION Synonyms: 77 Similar and Opposite Words

disillusion 1 of 2

verb

Definition of disillusion

as in to disabuse

to free from mistaken beliefs or foolish hopes we were disillusioned when we saw how the movie star acted in real life

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

disillusion

2 of 2

noun

as in disillusionment

Related Words

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 disillusion

Verb

From the 1960s to ’70s, some one million Americans, disillusioned with modern life, left their comfortable homes in cities and suburbs for a totally new way of living. — Jacqui Palumbo, CNN Money, 24 Sep. 2026 Feldstein told me that his time in prison was disillusioning. — Ruth Margalit, New Yorker, 19 Sep. 2026

Noun

The lyrics explored longing and disillusion, marking a thematic change for the band. — Sophie Williams, Billboard, 12 Sep. 2025 Diminishing political and social returns — ideas that start from good intentions only to end in frustration and disillusion — seem to plague most attempts at addressing America’s structural problems, which remain and persist. — Jens Ludwig, Chicago Tribune, 13 Apr. 2025 See All Example Sentences for disillusion

Recent Examples of Synonyms for disillusion

Verb

If anything, the industry needs to disabuse itself of the notion that simply meeting guests’ expectations is a failure and embrace the value of reasonable hospitality.

— Adam Reiner, Bon Appetit Magazine, 3 Sep. 2026
Monday’s slightly shorter ride to Guthrie Center packed in 3,572 feet, the most climbing of the week and enough to disabuse anyone still clinging to the fiction that Iowa is flat.

— Nick El Hajj, Des Moines Register, 25 July 2026

Definition of disabuse

Noun

These experiences showed us that love and faith, in many forms, was another way young people tried to respond to uncertainty and disillusionment.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 16 Oct. 2026
And disillusionment was growing with the Haitian-American pastor whom the men had initially backed to replace the president.

— Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 14 Oct. 2026

Definition of disillusionment

Verb

Maher says that the fact that more than half the states allow capital punishment, but are issuing fewer death sentences, shows that the American people are disenchanted with the use of the death penalty.

— Nate Perez, NPR, 16 Oct. 2026
But the old dispensation was also something like the countryside of his childhood, which experience has disenchanted.

— Max Norman, Harpers Magazine, 22 Sep. 2026

Definition of disenchant

Noun

To take such a thing seriously in this age of nihilism and disenchantment betrays a person as potentially unserious, someone committed to abstraction, to feeling over logic and material reality.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 15 Oct. 2026
Earlier demonstrations erupted over mismanagement of a string of public examinations, and broader youth disenchantment with the authorities.

— Morgan Chalfant, semafor.com, 7 Oct. 2026

Definition of disenchantment

Noun

For a government overseeing a population dominated by mobile expats, that created a lot of uncertainty in terms of establishing an economic base that can support a welfare system and basic state infrastructure.

— Mia Osmonbekov, Fortune, 18 Oct. 2026
The shooting has brought medical expenses and uncertainty to her family, according to the fundraising campaign.

— Ray Sanchez, CNN Money, 18 Oct. 2026

Definition of uncertainty

Browse Nearby Words

dishy

disillusion

disillusioned

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Disillusion.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/disillusion. Accessed 21 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of disillusion

verb

noun

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

jilt

Popular in Grammar & Usage

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Can' vs. 'May'

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

Popular in Wordplay

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Did 'orange' the fruit or the color come first?

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Popular

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Games & Quizzes