delusive promises of high-paying jobs for low-skilled workers
Recent Examples on the WebThis 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, 5 July 2022 Many less attractive traits are also recorded: Charles could be uncommunicative and dilatory, evasive and mendacious, refractory, vindictive, obstinate, even outright wicked, though self-delusive about the motives of others.—R.j.w. Evans, The New York Review of Books, 11 June 2020
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'delusive.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Latin dēlūsus, past participle of dēlūdere "to deceive, dupe" + -ive — more at delude
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