delusion
/dɪˈl(j)uːʒ(ə)n/
"delusion" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“delusion” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #17,815 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #17,815
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
- 12
- tracked misspellings
- 5
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A false belief that is resistant to confrontation with actual facts.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | delusion |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /dɪˈl(j)uːʒ(ə)n/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #17,815 |
| Misspellings tracked | 12 |
| Confusable pairs | 5 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “delusion” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for delusion is 8 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /dɪˈl(j)uːʒ(ə)n/. Corpus data places it at rank #17,815 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for delusion, with forms such as "ddelusion", "dellusion", and "delsuion". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 5 confusable-pair relationships, "dilution", "derision", "delusional", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin dēlūsiō. The correct English form is delusion, spelled D-E-L-U-S-I-O-N.
Definition
- 1A false belief that is resistant to confrontation with actual facts.
- 2The state of being deluded or misled, or process of deluding somebody.
- 3That which is falsely or delusively believed or propagated; false belief; error in belief.
- 4A fixed, false belief, that will not change, despite evidence to the contrary.
Etymology
From Latin dēlūsiō.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ddelusion,dellusion,delsuion,deluison,delusino,delusionn,delusoin,delussion,delution,deulsion,dleusion,edlusion
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of delusion - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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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Using “delusion”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is D-E-L-U-S-I-O-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /dɪˈl(j)uːʒ(ə)n/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “dilution” - see the side-by-side comparison. delusion vs dilution
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.