illusory

Question

Here are my sentences with the word "illusory". Could you please check them? Doubtless, "illusory" makes much more sense than "edification. Nevertheless, "edification" sounds divine.

Society, we live in, molds, to a great degree, our thinking; therefore, perceiving ourselves as free thinkers is illusory.

Happiness erected upon expensive cars, fancy dresses, lavish parties is, more often than not, illusory and ephemeral.

Freedom of speach in countries run by opressive governments is nothing but an illusory idea.

He portrayed himself as a wealthy business man; his empty bank account proved his public persona to be illusory.

Many thanks for your help

Spring

Clive · Accepted Answer

Hi,

'Illusory' means deceptive, like an illusion, an incorrect idea of the true situation.

Here are my sentences with the word "illusory". Could you please check them? Doubtless, "illusory" makes much more sense than "edification. Nevertheless, "edification" sounds divine. Well, it's good that you vcan enjoy words. We all have our favourites, either because of the meaning, or of the sound, or both.

Society, we live in, molds, to a great degree, our thinking; therefore, perceiving ourselves as free thinkers is illusory. OK

Happiness erected upon expensive cars, fancy dresses, lavish parties is, more often than not, illusory and ephemeral. OK, although I think more the later than the former.

Freedom of speach in countries run by opressive governments is nothing but an illusory idea. I think it would be more natural to say 'an illusion'.

He portrayed himself as a wealthy business man; his empty bank account proved his public persona to be illusory. Well, I think 'illusory' to others, but not to him.

Do you think that life itself is illusory?

Best wishes, Clive

TeacherBrian · Answer

Illusory can mean (1) deceptive, (2) having the character of an illusion.
Illusion can mean (1)deception, delusion, (2) a misapprehension of the true state of affairs, (3) the faulty perception of an object, (4) a figment of the imagination (5) an optical illusion.

So, in the example sentences given, meaning number (4).. a figment of the imagination.. seems to fit most of them, except, perhaps, in " He portrayed himself as a wealthy business man; his empty bank account proved his public persona to be illusory.", where meaning (1) seems more likely.
Regards

Spring · Answer

Clive, your queery caused turbulent currents in my head. I guess, whether one regards life as illusory or not depends on a multitude of factors such as: how one defines life, what one expects from life as opposed from oneself, where and how one lives his/her life, what one chooses to think, to believe in, and to value, how honest one is with oneself, how brave one is to face the truth, ......I think life is a blend of illusions and reality. How about you?

Hope

Clive · Answer

Hi Hope,

I hope your head is OK now.

......I think life is a blend of illusions and reality. How about you? I agree. And sometimes have trouble understanding which part is the illusion and which part is the reality. But perhaps that's one of the charms of life?

Best wishes again, Clive

Anonymous · Answer

To tell the truth,in my case illusion, illusory is the same. That reminds me of Corneille's comedy, Balzac's novel. And I feel someone is ready to give me a lot of zeros.But it's very interesting for me to have some private opinions about this. He portrayed...........illusory, I think Noblesse oblige. And I remember two famous sentences of Mr Mecawber from David by Charles Dickens:

Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen and six result happiness

Annual income twenty pounds,annual expenditure twenty pounds,ought and six result misery.

If you don't spend more than you earn, you'll be happy.It's Ok .Your life may be for you a pure illusion but to others it may be a dream, an optical illusion for forgetting all jealousy or struggling to the fate.I'll tell you a funny talk so called illusion , illusory or a dream ,,It's up to you.

On the way back home, in the smoothng running emergency car with great speed, we stopped at a pub to enjoy our success: we have just to saved two lives in a serious case: The mother giving birth on the rough road.The talent driver thought to his wife in the smoke of cigarettes, the midwife contemplated the gun she had bought for her son as a toy.I suddenly recognized I was in my punk when I met my classmates in their Korean fashionable clothes in the hospital.I was in a lot of trouble.For a minute,I feel I need to be superior to others.I'm to be proud of my situation. I'm a genecologist not an anesthetist .My duty is to save human life and reduce women's pain.Enjoy myself in a shot of my career, I said to the driver my dream: 'I wish I had a small car with a great speed like ours.And It has a set of purple lights at the back like Kim So Young's car'.The driver scolded me:Oh! you are so free to think such a rubbish! I remember the thought of Epicurus'sensation:'If you feel happy, you'll be happy.If you feel miserable, you 'll be miserable.'

I like illusion, a dream. It makes me happier in spite it's ephemeral or irreal. The most important thing is to live a meaning life and we feel no regret to live.

Phuong Ninh.

Clive · Answer

Hi Phuong Ninh,

Thanks for writing this. Yes, I agree with you.

Clive

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