delude
/dɪˈluːd/
"delude" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“delude” is uncommon English (frequency #54,116 among 3,470 “D” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #54,116
- frequency rank, English
- 3,470
- “D” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To deceive into believing something which is false; to lead into error; to dupe.
Corpus desk
Index EN-delude · delude · English
delude · rank #54,116 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #54,116
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,470
- PHOTO-FINISH delicatessen
Nearest frequency peer: delicatessen (-1 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Long-tail ranks near “delude”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- decoupling
decoupling
45,889 corpus weight
- DefCon
DefCon
45,888 corpus weight
- delicatessen
delicatessen
45,886 corpus weight
- delude
delude
45,885 corpus weight
- demagogue
demagogue
45,884 corpus weight
- dene
dene
45,883 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “delude” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | delude |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /dɪˈluːd/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #54,116 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “delude” in English
Rare enough to double-check
delude is uncommon English at frequency #54,116 among 3,470 “D” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /dɪˈluːd/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for delude, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English deluden, borrowed from Latin dēlūdō (“mock, deceive”), from de + lūdō (“to make sport of, to mock”). See ludicrous. The correct English form is delude, spelled D-E-L-U-D-E.
Definition
- 1To deceive into believing something which is false; to lead into error; to dupe.
- 2To frustrate or disappoint.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how delude appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
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.
To delude the nation by an airy phantom.
Etymology
From Middle English deluden, borrowed from Latin dēlūdō (“mock, deceive”), from de + lūdō (“to make sport of, to mock”). See ludicrous.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "delude", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).