ivory tower

American  

noun

1. a place or situation remote from worldly or practical affairs.

   the university as an ivory tower.

2. an attitude of aloofness from or disdain or disregard for worldly or practical affairs.

   his ivory tower of complacency.

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ivory tower British  

/ ˈtaʊə /

noun

1. 1. seclusion or remoteness of attitude regarding real problems, everyday life, etc

   2. ( as modifier )

      ivory-tower aestheticism

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ivory tower Idioms  

1. A place or attitude of retreat, remoteness from everyday affairs, as in What does the professor know about student life, living as he does in an ivory tower? This term is a translation of the French tour d'ivoire, which the critic Saint-Beuve used to describe the attitude of poet Alfred de Vigny in 1837. It is used most often in reference to intellectuals and artists who remain complacently aloof.

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Other Word Forms

• ivory-towerism
  noun
• ivory-towerist
  noun
• ivory-towerite
  noun
• ivorytowerishness
  noun
• ivory-towered
  adjective
• ivory-towerish
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of ivory tower

Translation of French tour d'ivoire, phrase used by C.A. Sainte-Beuve in reference to the isolated life of the poet A. de Vigny (1837)

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ivory tower

Some of those eagerly sought to enlighten their charges, while a few others grew to see – or claimed to see – an unbridgeable chasm between the ivory tower and mass cultural aspiration.

From Salon ● Apr. 19, 2026

“I use these examples to show my team that we can’t be ivory tower operators.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 2, 2026

Often operating in ivory tower silos and echo chambers, we scientists do an incredibly poor job of explaining to the public what and why we’re studying, our methodology, and the potential advantages of our work.

From Slate ● Jun. 27, 2025

Though Dr. Mott spent her career in some of academia’s elite spaces, she was firmly committed to the idea that scholarship should be grounded and tangible, not succumbing to ivory tower abstraction.

From New York Times ● Mar. 24, 2024

Occasionally he recognizes the wilful character of politics: then he shakes his head, climbs into an ivory tower and deplores the moonshine, the religious manias and the passions of the mob.

From A Preface to Politics by Lippmann, Walter