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• pipe dream
  pipe dream

  noun

  any fantastic notion, hope, or story.
• pipe-dream
  pipe-dream

  verb (used without object)

  to indulge in pipe dreams; fantasize.

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

The oil-futures market thinks oil will fall from $98 a barrel today to $80 by September and $75 by Christmas — but that may be a pipe dream.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 11, 2026

Even if this proves to be the exception, a near-term reversion to prewar oil prices sounds like a pipe dream.

From Barron's • Apr. 6, 2026

When Koy was moving up the comedy ranks under his real name Joseph Glenn Herbert, the thought of calling himself a comedian felt like a pipe dream.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 5, 2026

But for much of America’s 250-year history, eight-hour work days and five-day workweeks were a pipe dream.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 11, 2025

That old image of myself as a hero, as a man of conscience and courage, all that was just a threadbare pipe dream.

From "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien

Related Words

• daydream
• wishful thinking