pipe dream

¹

noun

1. any fantastic notion, hope, or story.

   Her plans for a movie career are just a pipe dream.

pipe-dream

²

[pahyp-dreem]

verb (used without object)

pipe-dreamed, pipe-dreamt, pipe-dreaming. 

1. to indulge in pipe dreams; fantasize.

pipe dream

noun

1. a fanciful or impossible plan or hope

Word History and Origins

Origin of pipe dream¹

An Americanism dating back to 1895–1900

Word History and Origins

Origin of pipe dream¹

alluding to dreams produced by smoking an opium pipe

Idioms and Phrases

A fantastic notion or vain hope, as in I'd love to have one home in the mountains and another at the seashore, but that's just a pipe dream. Alluding to the fantasies induced by smoking an opium pipe, this term has been used more loosely since the late 1800s.

Related Words

• daydream 
• wishful thinking