delusive en · ADJ
Etymology
Etymology tree English delude Proto-Indo-European *-wós Proto-Indo-European *-iHwósder. Latin -īvus Old French -ifbor. Middle English -yf English -ive English delusive From delude + -ive.
Meanings
- Producing delusions.
- Delusional.
-
Inappropriate to reality; forming part of a delusion.
[I]t seemed calculated to suggest ideas she had no intention to suggest: ideas delusive and disturbing.
1849, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], “Further Communications on Business”, in Shirley. A Tale. […], volume II, London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], →OCLC, page 71:I opened my eyes, I rubbed them, and found I was not asleep but thoroughly awake. Nevertheless, I felt my head and breast to satisfy myself whether it was I myself who was there or some empty delusive phantom; but touch, feeling, the collected thoughts that passed through my mind, all convinced me that I was the same then and there that I am this moment.
1885, Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, “Of the Wonderful Things the Incomparable Don Quixote Said He Saw in the Profound Cave of Montesinos, the Impossibility and Magnitude of which Cause this Adventure to be Deemed Apocryphal”, in John Ormsby, transl., The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha […] In Four Vols, volume III, London: Smith, Elder & Co. […], →OCLC, part II, page 249:The poor thing was finally got off, with several delusive assurances that his absence should be short: that Mr. Edgar and Cathy would visit him, and other promises, equally ill-founded, which I invented and reiterated at intervals throughout the way.
1847, Emily Brontë, chapter XX, in Wuthering Heights:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| most delusive | Degree=Sup | lexicographic | |
| more delusive | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic |
Deriveds
delusiveness · undelusive · delusively
Translations (8)
ro deluzoriu (inappropriate to reality) · gd mealltach (inappropriate to reality) · fi harhaanjohtava (inappropriate to reality) · hi भ्रामक (inappropriate to reality) · bg измамен (inappropriate to reality) · fi petollinen (inappropriate to reality) · bg илюзорен (inappropriate to reality) · es delusivo (inappropriate to reality)