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.

Example Sentences

"If this is acceptable now, then it's not surprising that unionists will never want to be part of the pipe dream that is a united Ireland."

From BBC

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

Even on good days, lunch breaks were often a pipe dream.

From BBC

Defeated multiple times in the past, this bill would carve out an exception for small modular reactors, or SMRs, the current pipe dream of nuclear advocates.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• daydream 
• wishful thinking