will-o'-the-wisp
Americannoun
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Also called: friar's lantern. ignis fatuus. jack-o'-lantern. a pale flame or phosphorescence sometimes seen over marshy ground at night. It is believed to be due to the spontaneous combustion of methane or other hydrocarbons originating from decomposing organic matter
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a person or thing that is elusive or allures and misleads
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of will-o'-the-wisp
1600–10; originally Will (i.e., William) with the wisp; see wisp
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
More myths would have surrounded the eerie blue glow of will-o'-the-wisp – methane from peat beds burning over the top of the marshes.
From BBC ● Dec. 25, 2024
The film is, as promised, something very special: a careworn, will-o’-the-wisp road movie, contained within a memory that may or may not be imagined.
From The Guardian ● Aug. 24, 2019
The idea of parliamentary elections, in principle scheduled for September, at this point is only a will-o’-the-wisp.
From Washington Times ● May 7, 2018
Today, 18 months after the protest movement sprang to life in New York City and became a national phenomenon, it seems almost a will-o’-the-wisp.
From Economist ● Mar. 14, 2013
“He is given to many disguises. He is a veritable will-o’-the-wisp, scurrying here and there in his never- ending search for marauders.
From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
