a fertile patch in a desert occurring where the water table approaches or reaches the ground surface
a place of peace, safety, or happiness in the midst of trouble or difficulty
Plural word for oasis The plural form of oasis is oases, pronounced [ oh-ey-seez ]. The plurals of several other singular words that end in -is are also formed in this way, including hypothesis/hypotheses, crisis/crises, and axis/axes. A similar change is made when pluralizing appendix as appendices. Irregular plurals that are formed like oases derive directly from their original pluralization in Latin and Greek.
First recorded in 1605–15; from Late Latin, from Greek óasis, from Egyptian wḥʾt “oasis region”
As you walk through the desert of life, may you always find your oasis — a place where you can find safety and sustenance. Although the literal meaning of oasis is "a green spot in the desert," it can also be used to describe a peaceful area in our everyday lives. Perhaps your home is your oasis, where you can escape life's rigors. An oasis refers to a location, but it can also be an imagined place — as in an acting exercise where an actor builds an imaginary oasis in his or her mind. The actor can then remember the image to relax on stage.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Reuters quoted a source as saying the meeting between Netanyahu and the Emirati president took place in Al-Ain, an oasis city near the border with Oman, and lasted several hours.
From BBC • May 13, 2026
The country of 5.2 million people, famous for its white-sand beaches, has long been seen as an oasis of stability and democracy in Central America.
From Barron's • May 8, 2026
The memorial thereby manages to combine formality—in tribute to Hunt’s classicism—with serenity, in acknowledgment of its bucolic setting in an urban oasis.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 8, 2026
It’s an oasis for arts, tasteful wealth, and Southern manners in one of the reddest parts of the country.
From Slate • May 4, 2026
The group was to remain there at the oasis until the conflict between the tribes was over.
From "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
