pipe dream
nounDefinition of pipe dream
: an illusory or fantastic plan, hope, or story
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Synonyms for pipe dream
Synonyms
chimera, conceit, daydream, delusion, dream, fancy, fantasy (also phantasy), figment, hallucination, illusion, nonentity, phantasm (also fantasm), unreality, vision
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Examples of pipe dream in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Ambitious federal legislation is a pipe dream for now, and will remain so for as long as the GOP a) is bananas and b) holds at least 40 seats in the Senate. — David Roberts, Vox, "After the midterms, US climate politics are even more polarized. Here’s how Dems can move forward.," 12 Nov. 2018 Unseating Ryan has always been something of a pipe dream for Democrats. — Ella Nilsen, Vox, "Every August 14 primary election you should know about, briefly explained," 13 Aug. 2018 That's kind of pipe dream, however, he's never dealt with some like Trump before. — Fox News, "How Trump differs from past presidents on North Korea," 12 June 2018 Or, for those who truly love pipe dreams, picture Kyrie Irving and Donovan Mitchell dueling in the 2023 Finals… in Beijing. — Ben Golliver, SI.com, "The Case For Moving the NBA Finals to a Neutral Site," 22 May 2018 But at the time, computational speed made the idea a pipe dream. — Kevin Hartnett, WIRED, "A Classical Math Problem Gets Pulled Into Self-Driving Cars," 26 May 2018 Canadian producers may yet discover that conquering the globe is just a pipe dream. — The Economist, "Canada’s cannabis firms plot world domination," 5 July 2018 Now sobered up, Hickey is trying to convince his fellow barflies to stop clinging to their pipe dreams, and Washington imbues his character with searing delusion, guilt-ridden desperation, and a hint of menace. — Christopher Wallenberg, BostonGlobe.com, "Picks and predictions for the Tonys," 8 June 2018 Yet even when Tuesday brought a crisis point to ABC, swift corporate action seemed like a pipe dream. — Julie Hinds, Detroit Free Press, "ABC deserves applause for swiftly canning 'Roseanne' after racist tweet," 29 May 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'pipe dream.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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Last Updated
11 Dec 2018
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Time Traveler for pipe dream
The first known use of pipe dream was in 1890
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