Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

delusion of adequacy

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.74 in modern English

Syllables: delu-sion of ad-e-qua-cy
IPA

37

Scrabble Score

18

Letters

5

Syllables

13

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

The false belief that one is adequate; the belief that one is doing a competent job when one is actually incompetent.

Example Sentences

"But compared to the jagged, snow-covered peaks in the distance, the mountains back east were mud hills with delusions of adequacy."
"Whatever delusion of adequacy my admission to my father's alma mater had encouraged evaporated like morning dew, and I was left to panic before the stark, unblinking truth: I was an interloper."
"Mr. Robinson is not up to the course he has set for himself. In the play, the character concludes by giving up his dreams of overnight stardom and deciding to learn his trade from the bottom up. All Mr. Robinson can honestly do now is to take his own advice. At the moment, he is suffering from delusions of adequacy."

Etymology

Coined by American writer and Broadway theater critic Walter Kerr in 1951 in a review in New York Herald Tribune review of a Broadway play called Buy Me Blue Ribbons (in reference to star Jay Robinson). An ironic variation of delusion of grandeur.

Inflected Forms

delusions of adequacy (plural)

Questions

What does delusion of adequacy mean?: The false belief that one is adequate; the belief that one is doing a competent job when one is actually incompetent.
Where does delusion of adequacy come from?: Coined by American writer and Broadway theater critic Walter Kerr in 1951 in a review in New York Herald Tribune review of a Broadway play called Buy Me Blue Ribbons (in reference to star Jay Robinson). An ironic variation of delusion of grandeur.

How to pronounce delusion of adequacy

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