From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishfool yourselffool yourselfto try to make yourself believe something that you know is not really true It’s no good fooling yourself. He’s not coming back. → fool
Examples from the Corpus
fool yourself• Although a Pep Squad can sometimes fool the world, it can rarely fool itself.• However, the probabilities are that you are fooling yourself.• The stories of Blake and the various defectors show how easily the intelligence fraternity fools itself.• We fool ourselves by thinking we can go on automatic pilot, that we can survive by going through the motions.• It was as though he had been fooling himself all along.• Lindsey knew she had been fooling herself in thinking she could remain indifferent.• First a drive, he thought, headed anywhere, fooling himself into thinking he might simply keep going.• This was my way of fooling myself, perhaps. 