mirage

American  

[mi-rahzh] / mɪˈrɑʒ /

noun

• mirages
  plural

1. an optical phenomenon, especially in the desert or at sea, by which the image of some object appears displaced above, below, or to one side of its true position as a result of spatial variations of the index of refraction of air.

2. something illusory, without substance or reality.

   Synonyms:

   fancy, phantom, illusion

3. Military. Mirage, any of a series of supersonic, delta-wing, multirole French fighter-bombers.

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mirage British  

/ mɪˈrɑːʒ /

noun

1. an image of a distant object or sheet of water, often inverted or distorted, caused by atmospheric refraction by hot air

2. something illusory

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mirage Scientific  

/ mĭ-räzh′ /

1. An image formed under certain atmospheric conditions, in which objects appear to be reflected or displaced or in which nonexistent objects seem to appear. For example, the difference in the index of refraction between a low layer of very hot air and a higher level of cold air can cause light rays, travelling down from an object (such as the sky or a cloud) and passing through ever warmer air, to be refracted back up again. An observer viewing these light rays perceives them coming up off the ground, and thus sees the inverted image of the object, which appears lower than the object really is. In this way the sky itself can be reflected, resulting in the mirage of a distant lake.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• mirages
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of mirage

First recorded in 1795–1805; from French, equivalent to (se) mir(er) “to look at (oneself), be reflected” (from Latin mīrārī “to wonder at”) + -age -age

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Explanation

Next time you’re traveling in the desert, make sure you carry plenty of water. That enticing pool of water you see far away in the distance may be a mirage, or an optical illusion. A mirage is created when light is distorted by layers of hot air. A mirage that looks like a body of water is actually an image of the sky. Even if you don’t spend much time in the desert, you may have noticed this phenomenon when driving on the highway on a hot day. Under certain conditions you can see in the distance what appears to be a puddle of water across the road. You’ll never reach the puddle, however: it’s just an illusion. The word mirage can be used in a more general sense to refer to anything that is unattainable or a false perception.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

mirage mirages

The mirage of privacy and convenience could be causing more people to turn to AI for health-related information.

From Salon ● Aug. 19, 2026

See more: The massive run-up in AI stocks this year may be built on a ‘token mirage’

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 18, 2026

Potential investors, and tourists, see the war turning that vision into a mirage.

From BBC ● Jun. 9, 2026

Critics on the Croisette are starting to resemble that classic comic-strip panel in which an explorer crawls desperately across the sand toward an oasis that’s only a mirage.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 19, 2026

The beach stretched away before them in a gentle curve till perspective drew it into one with the forest; for the day was not advanced enough to be obscured by the shifting veils of mirage.

From "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding

She mixes fact and fiction into these mirages of reality where it doesn’t matter whether things are true or false.

From Salon ● Aug. 26, 2026

Instead, the focus is on the emotion and excitement of movie-making mirages.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2024

It was the first of many Majorana mirages.

From Science Magazine ● Dec. 20, 2023

Ironman is no one’s idea of a spectator sport, and the XC hosts can only do so much about that, but without proper guidance it can be miserable, like chasing mirages in a desert.

From New York Times ● Dec. 6, 2022

It’s a mirage, Khalid told me once—like the mirages you see way out in the middle of a desert, but instead, they shimmer over the cracked pavement and potholes of our little town.

From "King and the Dragonflies" by Kacen Callender

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