fool's paradise

American  

noun

1. a state of enjoyment based on false beliefs or hopes; a state of illusory happiness.

---

fool's paradise British  

noun

1. illusory happiness

---

fool's paradise Idioms  

1. State of delusive contentment or false hope. For example, Joan lived in a fool's paradise, looking forward to a promotion she would never get. This expression was first recorded in 1462.

---

Etymology

Origin of fool's paradise

late Middle English word dating back to 1425–75

Example Sentences

But see all of those fantasyland hues in a makeup tube and you might think only someone living in a fool's paradise would wear such lively colors on her face.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 23, 2015

We play a long game at K&L Gates, and managing to metrics expressed as averages is a fool’s paradise, emblematic of short-term thinking.

From Forbes • Aug. 13, 2014

For some these words reflect perfectly the unsustainable naivety that allowed this semi-arid plot of land to turn itself into a fool’s paradise of swimming pools and golf courses.

From Economist • Nov. 7, 2013

Were we in a fool’s paradise, an epoch of superb whisky that would end when the last spadeful of Scottish peat is dug up and flung into the furnaces?

From Slate • Apr. 11, 2013

A. Hopkins Parker was living in a fool’s paradise, wherever he was.

From "A Separate Peace" by John Knowles