Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Showing results for castle in the air. Search instead for Castle+In+The+Air.
Synonyms

castle in the air

American  

noun

  1. a fanciful or impractical notion or hope; daydream.


castle in the air British  

noun

  1. a hope or desire unlikely to be realized; daydream

"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

Etymology

Origin of castle in the air

First recorded in 1570–80


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Fittingly for a boy in a centuries-old town in what was then Communist East Germany, his was no ordinary castle in the air.

From New York Times ● Oct. 7, 2014

His face and eyes shine as he hurries towards his doom, blinded by a beautiful delusion, his own personal castle in the air.

From The Guardian ● Sep. 16, 2010

“Now that castle in the air has a foundation underneath it and is becoming an impending reality.”

From Washington Post

Yet another out-of-plumb castle in the air, designed by the old master, this one inhabited by a tiddly young aristoclot named Freddy Widgeon, and besieged by a villain named Oofy Prosser.

From Time Magazine Archive

For twenty minutes, we explored my castle in the air together.

From "Landscape with Invisible Hand" by M.T. Anderson

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

Get a word

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Dictionary.com's Learning Companion

Go beyond just looking up words.
Remember them forever with VocabTrainer.

Start training