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Delusion vs Illusion - What's the difference?

delusion | illusion |

As nouns the difference between delusion and illusion

is that delusion is a false belief that is resistant to confrontation with actual facts while illusion is anything that seems to be something that it is not.

delusion

Noun

(en noun)
  • A false belief that is resistant to confrontation with actual facts.
  • The state of being deluded or misled.
  • That which is falsely or delusively believed or propagated; false belief; error in belief.
  • * {{quote-book
  • , year=1960 , author=William L. Shirer , title=The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany , page=835 , publisher=Simon & Schuster , location=New York , isbn=0-671-72869-5 , id=LCCN 81101072 , passage=Hess, always a muddled man though not so doltish as Rosenberg, flew on his own to Britain under the delusion that he could arrange a peace settlement.}} (Webster 1913)

    Derived terms

    * delusion of grandeur

    Anagrams

    * unsoiled

    illusion

    Noun

  • (countable) Anything that seems to be something that it is not.
  • We saw what looked like a tiger among the trees, but it was an illusion caused by the shadows of the branches.
    Using artificial additives, scientists can create the illusion of fruit flavours in food.
  • * 2002 , (The Flaming Lips),
  • You realize the sun don't go down it's just an illusion caused by the world spinning round.
  • (countable) A misapprehension; a belief in something that is in fact not true.
  • Jane has this illusion that John is in love with her.
  • (countable) A magician’s trick.
  • (uncountable) The state of being deceived or misled.
  • Synonyms

    * (the state of being deceived or misled) misapprehension

    Derived terms

    * illusionist * illusory * optical illusion * under the illusion that

    See also

    * mirage ----