Illusory   (pronounced ih-loos-uh-ree or ih-looz-uh-ree) adjective


Definition

based on or producing an illusion; not real; deceptive; having the nature of an illusion.

Main Example

  • The most prominent face of the Saddam Hussein regime during its dying days was that of Information Minister Mohammed Saeed-al-Sahaf. Can we ever forget his absurd claims of sweeping Iraqi victories in the offing? "We've besieged them." "We've killed most of the American infidels." "They are hundreds of miles away." "Their tombs will be here in Iraq." ....Such were the illusory statements Sahaf made in his daily press briefings.

    Workplace Examples

  • Yes, we are exceeding our year-to-date goal, but such a comparison really gives us an illusory sense of accomplishment. When we compare our progress with that of the competition, it's clear that we are actually falling behind!

  • On the surface, my stock picks of 1998 look pretty good because they have all doubled in price. But when you factor in the cost of money for all the years I have held them, you realize that most of the gain is illusory.

    Other Examples

  • your commenting: "My boss is going to explode when he learns that no spares exist and that our thinking all along about there being a big reserve stock was illusory."

  • the enormously popular movie "Jurassic Park" giving rise to the illusory promise that today's scientists can resurrect long-extinct species such as the woolly mammoth from their DNA

  • the illusoriness of the annual profit increases that were being reported by Enron and WorldCom

  • pointing to the fact that no nation whose sole export is oil has a democratic form of government, Newsweek's Fareed Zakaria telling ABC that the prevailing hopes of a soon-thriving democracy in Iraq, thanks to its enormous oil wealth, are illusory and unrealistic

    © 2003 V.J. Singal

    This Month's Other Words

    Patrimony
    Acerbic
    Vexed
    Evince
    Quiescent
    Inure
    Disingenuous

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