Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1300-1400
Language: French
Origin: Latin illusio, from illudere 'to make fun of', from ludere 'to play'

illusion

 noun
     
il‧lu‧sion [countable]
1 an idea or opinion that is wrong, especially about yourself [↪ delusion]
illusion that
They suffer from the illusion that they cannot solve their problems.
It is an illusion that the Arctic is dark in winter.
She had no illusions about her physical attractions.
'I hate to shatter your illusions,' he said.
2 something that seems to be different from the way it really is
illusion of
He was unlikely to be satisfied with the illusion of power.
give/create an illusion
The mirrors in the room gave an illusion of greater space.
Credit creates the illusion that you can own things without paying for them.
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

Dictionary pictures of the day
Do you know what each of these is called?
What is the word for picture 1? What is the word for picture 2? What is the word for picture 3? What is the word for picture 4?
Click on any of the pictures above to find out what it is called.

Explore our topic dictionary

Browse the dictionary