castles in the air

1. Extravagant hopes and plans that will never be carried out: “I told him he should stop building castles in the air and train for a sensible profession.”

Idioms and Phrases

Also, castles in Spain. Dreams about future success, as in Musing about the bestseller list, she was apt to build castles in the air. The first term dates from the late 1500s. The variant, castles in Spain (or chateaux en Espagne), was recorded in the Roman de la Rose in the 13th century and translated into English about 1365.

Example Sentences

“Before you started building castles in the air,” Josie said loyally.

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All entrepreneurs making pitches to venture capital funds are inclined to promise castles in the air and riches beyond the dreams of Croesus, or they won’t be invited through the door.

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“Wouldn’t it be fun if all the castles in the air which we make could come true, and we could live in them?” said Jo, after a little pause.

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"At a time when the pandemic is killing thousands, crematoria are full and graveyards have run out of space, the government is building castles in the air."

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In the Scientific Revolution, Bacon and Descartes were amongst those with plans for thoroughgoing intellectual change, but their plans were castles in the air, and neither of them imagined what Newton would achieve.

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Related Words

• aspect 
• conception 
• dream 
• fantasy 
• foresight 
• idea 
• ideal 
• imagination 
• insight 
• outlook 
• perspective 
• point of view 
• understanding 
• view