cloudland

American  

[kloud-land] / ˈklaʊdˌlænd /

noun

1. the sky.

2. a region of unreality, imagination, etc.; dreamland.

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Etymology

Origin of cloudland

First recorded in 1810–20; cloud + -land

Explanation

Someone who’s always daydreaming or talking about wild, impractical ideas may be spending too much time in cloudland — a mental dreamland or state ruled by imagination and unreality. If you say that someone always "has their head in the clouds," it means that they're absent-mindedly dreamy and impractical, guided by whimsy. You could say that they're living in cloudland. The term is also used to describe the sky, where clouds wander by aimlessly, seemingly free from the cares and concerns that people face down on the ground. So if you’re spending a lot of time gazing up at the sky and wondering if it's really possible for pigs to fly (instead of doing your math homework), it’s probably time to get out of cloudland.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cloudland

IN the cloudland of higher mathematics, there is a whole area of study called "imaginary numbers."

From Time Magazine Archive

Her private cloudland, on exhibition in a Manhattan gallery last week, might depress some people but would hardly disturb anybody.

From Time Magazine Archive

Indeed, its wildest moments are from that forgotten cloudland of the '30s and '40s when every performer was expected to carry a tune.

From Time Magazine Archive

At last Don Delaney comes doon the lang glen—hunger vanishes, we turn our eyes to the mountains, and to-morrow we go climbing toward cloudland.

From My First Summer in the Sierra by John Muir

What was he doing in cloudland so far removed from her?

From The Maid of Honour, Vol. 1 (of 3) A Tale of the Dark Days of France by Lewis Wingfield