pipe dream

a fantasy that is totally unrealistic

TRANSLATION

pipe dream = frommer Wunsch; Hirngespinst; Wunschtraum; Tagtraum; Luftschloss

STATISTICS

IN THE PRESS

World: South Asia
Gas pipeline could be a pipe dream

A US oil and gas company has failed to secure financing for a proposed natural gas pipeline in Central Asia. The proposed pipeline would have been 1,271km long.

(BBC News - 30th August 1998)

Did you
know?

pipe dream
noun

- A fantastic notion or vain hope.

Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

---
Origin: From the fantasies induced by smoking a pipe of opium.

---
Synonyms:
airy hope, castle in the air, castle in the sky, chimera, daydream, false hope, fantasy, fool's paradise, golden dream, pie in the sky, unrealistic hope, wishful thinking

---
IMPRESS YOUR FRIENDS TODAY
say something like:

"I do occasionally play the lottery just for fun, but it is a pipedream to imagine winning a lot of money."

More Word Quizzes: