delude
verbUK /dɪˈluːd/ · US /dɪˈluːd/
Etymology From Middle English deluden, borrowed from Latin dēlūdō (“mock, deceive”), from de + lūdō (“to make sport of, to mock”). See ludicrous.
1
To deceive into believing something which is false; to lead into error; to dupe.
- Ralph Wiggum is generally employed as a bottomless fount of glorious non sequiturs, but in “I Love Lisa” he stands in for every oblivious chump who ever deluded himself into thinking that with persistence, determination, and a pure heart he can win the girl of his dreams.2012 August 5, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “I Love Lisa” (season 4, episode 15; originally aired 02/11/1993)”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name):
- To delude the nation by an airy phantom.1775, Edmund Burke, Speech on Conciliation with America:
2
Obsolete To frustrate or disappoint.
- It deludes thy search.c. 1680, John Dryden, Dido to Aeneas: