castle in the air
Americannoun
noun
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.
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
What Lorabelle seeks is a castle in the air; what she finds in Henry is a way back to earth.
From Time Magazine Archive
I do talk about “after the war,” but it’s as if I were talking about a castle in the air, something that can never come true.
From "The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
