mirage

[ mi-rahzh ]

noun

1. an optical phenomenon, especially in the desert or at sea, by which the image of some object appears displaced above, below, or to one side of its true position as a result of spatial variations of the index of refraction of air.
2. something illusory, without substance or reality.

   Synonyms: fancy, phantom, illusion

3. Mirage, Military. any of a series of supersonic, delta-wing, multirole French fighter-bombers.

mirage

/ mɪˈrɑːʒ /

noun

1. an image of a distant object or sheet of water, often inverted or distorted, caused by atmospheric refraction by hot air
2. something illusory

mirage

/ mĭ-räzh′ /

1. An image formed under certain atmospheric conditions, in which objects appear to be reflected or displaced or in which nonexistent objects seem to appear. For example, the difference in the index of refraction between a low layer of very hot air and a higher level of cold air can cause light rays, travelling down from an object (such as the sky or a cloud) and passing through ever warmer air, to be refracted back up again. An observer viewing these light rays perceives them coming up off the ground, and thus sees the inverted image of the object, which appears lower than the object really is. In this way the sky itself can be reflected, resulting in the mirage of a distant lake.

Word History and Origins

Origin of mirage¹

First recorded in 1795–1805; from French, equivalent to (se) mir(er) “to look at (oneself), be reflected” (from Latin mīrārī “to wonder at”) + -age -age

Word History and Origins

Origin of mirage¹

C19: from French, from ( se ) mirer to be reflected

Example Sentences

The moment was a mirage of the kind of glory that Wall and the Wizards wanted to achieve.

From Washington Post

Virtual reality innovator Jaron Lanier thinks the early dream of free information was a mirage and that making everything free, in exchange for advertising, would lead to a manipulative society.

From MIT Technology Review

This may surprise some people who assume all of the gains are a mirage.

From Fortune

Meanwhile, a “red mirage” could happen elsewhere on the map, specifically those states like Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan that are processing and counting ballots much later.

From Vox

There are landmarks and there are mirages, and the mirages need maps most of all.

From Eater

I found it beckoning, almost like a mirage, in the form of the Vino Volo wine bar.

From The Daily Beast

In Turkey the Qataris flew French Mirage jets, not exactly cutting edge equipment but still formidable.

From The Daily Beast

Those goals are like a desert mirage, and the sooner everyone realizes it the better the medium will be.

From The Daily Beast

The ER—at least on the surface—is a mirage to many of these inconveniences.

From The Daily Beast

This week they got Mike Tyson and Razor Ruddock over at the Mirage, where the fake volcano blows up every twenty minutes.

From The Daily Beast

The vision of the universal happiness seen by the economists has proved a mirage.

From Project Gutenberg

See that white blot, far out to the east, rising in the evening mirage,—it must be Fort Riley!

From Project Gutenberg

He longed for and sought his desires always, to see them vanish like a mirage just as they seemed within his grasp.

From Project Gutenberg

Mirage or no mirage, you must not too implicitly trust your eyes in the fantastic atmosphere of the high plains.

From Project Gutenberg

It is apart from my purpose to explain the mirage scientifically, and not altogether in my power.

From Project Gutenberg