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

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

Perfect anonymity online is still a pipe dream, but a good VPN gets you pretty close.

From Salon • Feb. 11, 2026

The lessons of 1986 show that with the right setting and right leaders, a Reykjavik moment isn’t a pipe dream.

From Slate • Feb. 2, 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

I loved the idea, even though the gallery seemed like a pipe dream.

From "How Dare the Sun Rise" by Sandra Uwiringiyimana

Related Words

• daydream
• wishful thinking