Shangri-la

[ shang-gruh-lah, shang-gruh-lah ]

noun
  1. an imaginary paradise on earth, especially a remote and exotic utopia.

  2. a faraway haven or hideaway of idyllic beauty and tranquility: Last summer we rented a cottage on a little lake—our perfect Shangri-la.

Origin of Shangri-la

1
After the fictional Tibetan land of eternal youth in the novel The Lost Horizon (1933) by James Hilton

Words Nearby Shangri-la

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How to use Shangri-la in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for Shangri-la

Shangri-la

/ (ˌʃæŋɡrɪˈlɑː) /


noun
  1. a remote or imaginary utopia

Origin of Shangri-la

1
C20: from the name of an imaginary valley in the Himalayas, from Lost Horizon (1933), a novel by James Hilton

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for Shangri-La

Shangri-La

A fictional land of peace and perpetual youth; the setting for the 1933 novel Lost Horizon by the English author James Hilton, but probably best known from the movie versions. Shangri-La is supposedly in the mountains of Tibet.

Notes for Shangri-La

A “Shangri-La,” by extension, is an ideal refuge from the troubles of the world.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.