blue-sky

[bloo-skahy]

adjective

1. fanciful; impractical.

   blue-sky ideas.

2. (especially of securities) having dubious value; not financially sound.

   a blue-sky stock.

blue-sky

noun

1. (modifier) of or denoting theoretical research without regard to any future application of its result

   a blue-sky project

verb

1. to theorize (about something that may not lead to any practical application)

Word History and Origins

Origin of blue-sky¹

First recorded in 1890–95

Example Sentences

Strauss, a financier in the 1920s of the city’s skyline, summed up the blue-sky optimism: “New York cannot be held back in her growth and development as the supreme city in the world.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The nights may have drawn in, but it is a weekend for blue-sky thinking and distant horizons.

Read more on BBC

Eskow: This may be blue-sky thinking, but it occurs to me that the progressive movement can display leadership and vision in forming that front, at a time when those qualities seem to be lacking elsewhere.

Read more on Salon

Straight ahead, the Pacific sparkled on the sunny, blue-sky Friday.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Indeed, it may be some blue-sky thinking from a player, no matter how brilliant, who has not won a trophy in his career for club or country.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• absurd 
• bizarre 
• extravagant 
• fantastic 
• fantastical www.thesaurus.com
• fictional 
• imaginative 
• offbeat 
• preposterous 
• unreal 
• whimsical