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allusion   —   illusion   —   delusion

This set of words is most often confused or misused on account of the similarity of appearance and the careless pronunciation; therefore, great care should be taken when using it.

“Allusion” is ‘an indirect or incomplete reference’, and it can also be ‘a passing remark or an indirect reference to an unnamed person, time or event’,

e.g.

Ahmed didn’t like your allusions to his wife’s behaviour.

[Ahmed did not like when you indirectly mentioned his wife’s behaviour.]

“Illusion” is ‘a deceptive appearance, that is, a state of mental condition of seeing something that does not really exist, or having a false belief based on misleading evidence’,

e.g.

Mirages are optical illusions.

The illusion that the sun goes round the earth still exists among some people.

“Delusion” is ‘something really believed by a person; a mental condition involving a sincere or strong held false opinion with no basis’,

e.g.

She is under the delusion that creatures from other planets have landed on the earth.

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