magical thinking

American

noun

a conviction that thinking is equivalent to doing, occurring in dreams, the thought patterns of children, and some types of mental disorders, especially obsessive-compulsive disorder.

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.

The exhibition covers dreams, eros, war, European exiles and magical thinking.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 27, 2025

Each of these proposals attempts to address real problems but are either the result of magical thinking or will do more harm than good.

From Barron's • Nov. 7, 2025

Putnam mastered the moment; to this day, corporations demand photogenic authors, high-stakes publicity, spreadsheet tweaks and magical thinking.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 11, 2025

This book makes sense of all the magical thinking we encounter on a daily basis, and offers ways society can find its way out of it.

From Salon • Jan. 5, 2025

I’m not the kind of person who’s prone to premonitions or overconfidence, so I suspected that there was more to my flash than magical thinking.

From "If I Stay" by Gayle Forman

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023