self-deceivern.
/ˌsɛlfdᵻˈsiːvə/, U.S. /ˌsɛlfdəˈsivər/ A person who convinces himself or herself of the truth of false or unvalidated feeling, idea, or situation; a person who practises or engages in self-deception.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > deception by illusion, delusion > self-deception > [noun] > sufferer from
self-deceiver1596
self-deluder1647
1596 E. Spenser Second Pt. Faerie Queene v. ix. sig. T7 So did deceipt the selfe deceiuer fayle, There they him left a carrion outcast. View more context for this quotation
1614 D. Dyke Myst. Selfe-deceiuing iv. 65 And so much for the three former selfe-deceiuers.
1713 M. Henry Self-consideration necessary to Self-preservation 22 How many Cheats do People put upon their own Souls, which will turn at last to their own Ruin, for Self-flatterers and Self-deceivers will prove in the end to have been Self-destroyers.
1775 J. W. Fletcher Last Check Antinomianism x. 127 These whole-hearted christians, these perfect pharisees, were no better than liars and self-deceivers.
1827 J. Keble Christian Year I. xx. 81 The self-deceiver's dreary theme.
1886 Eng. Hist. Rev. 1 382 Bacon was a self-deceiver because his indomitable, elastic self-esteem..blinded him to all unpleasant facts.
1906 Times Lit. Suppl. 25 May 7/2 Depicting the men about him as he saw them—feeble, often scarcely sane, self-deceivers, cowards, and hypocrites.
1992 Economist 26 Dec. 73/3 Those on the Security Council are self-deceivers of the first order. From one side of their mouths they call on a UN mission to accomplish more; from the other they nitpick about the bills.
2014 Independent (Nexis) 27 Apr. (Features section) 20 He's a self-deceiver, but too smart not to know that.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, January 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1596