pipe dream

¹ American  

noun

1. any fantastic notion, hope, or story.

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

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pipe-dream ² American  

[pahyp-dreem] / ˈpaɪpˌdrim /

verb (used without object)

pipe-dreamed, pipe-dreamt, pipe-dreaming

1. to indulge in pipe dreams; fantasize.

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pipe dream British  

noun

1. a fanciful or impossible plan or hope

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pipe dream Idioms  

1. 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.

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Etymology

Origin of pipe dream

An Americanism dating back to 1895–1900

Example Sentences

Mr. James also has a challenging role as the crusty salt who curses “dat ole davil sea” almost as many times as Hickey drones on about “pipe dreams” in “The Iceman Cometh.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Against their great rivals in Indore, they had spells where they competed - again, something that was nothing more than a pipe dream at the beginning of the year.

From BBC

These would be excellent candidates for a momentum fund, or a venture fund trying to sort spicy growers from pipe dreams.

From Barron's

She explained exactly why the Golden Dome, which would supposedly protect the United States against nuclear attack, is a pipe dream:

From Salon

Yeah, I know, it’s mostly a pipe dream, but there are those who are trying to keep that dream alive.

From Salon

Related Words

• daydream
• wishful thinking