as in pipe dream
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Recent Examples of ignis fatuus
Unveiling ignis fatuus: Microlightning between microbubbles.
—
Soo Kim,
MSNBC Newsweek,
1 Oct. 2025
Several sources say ignis fatuus, a spark of swamp gas, is the likely cause of the strange light.
—
Fox News,
3 Mar. 2023
The story also helped explain ignis fatuus, a natural phenomenon that occurs in marshlands and bogs—such as those in Ireland’s countryside—producing flickering lights as gases from decomposing organic matter combust.
—
National Geographic,
27 Oct. 2020
Soo Kim,
MSNBC Newsweek,
1 Oct. 2025
Several sources say ignis fatuus, a spark of swamp gas, is the likely cause of the strange light.
—
Fox News,
3 Mar. 2023
The story also helped explain ignis fatuus, a natural phenomenon that occurs in marshlands and bogs—such as those in Ireland’s countryside—producing flickering lights as gases from decomposing organic matter combust.
—
National Geographic,
27 Oct. 2020
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ignis fatuus
Noun
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But instant 100% tariffs look like a pipe dream given the constraints of the trade law.
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Once a pipe dream, the idea of a federal film subsidy now seems like a real possibility.
Noun
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Cynics think that Manchesterism is a mirage and that Burnham is unduly hogging the credit for the regeneration of the city’s downtown.
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Will a 'red mirage' help Steyer?
Noun
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Additional cast members include Lorenzo James Henrie (Fear the Walking Dead), Lorenzo Richelmy (Netflix's Marco Polo), Vincenzo Nemolato (La chimera), and Rupert Everett (My Best Friend's Wedding).
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High atop what's known as Northern Kentucky’s Notre-Dame are 58 new terra cotta gargoyles and chimeras watching over the city.
Noun
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As the guitar-strumming will-o'-the-wisp Maria von Trapp, Julie Andrews taught us a few of her favorite things.
Noun
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By chance, Rhaena arrives at the Gullet on dragonback just in time to make the same hubristic mistake as her sister and her cousin, all suffering from the delusion that the war needs them.
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Schizoaffective disorder is a mental health condition that is marked by a mix of schizophrenia symptoms, such as hallucinations and delusions, and mood disorder symptoms, such as depression, mania and a milder form of mania called hypomania, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Noun
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The passion for sports is a matter of its unrealities—its past is more myth than history.
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The unreality of Lexi’s play gave us a fun-house mirror of the show cast back onto itself.
Noun
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And amidst the momentum of reverie, there’s the line ‘Blink at the light and hope to survive,’ because daydreams in a fascist state can be scary too.
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One-touch passing, feinting and ripping hard shots into a tattered net, each is super-charged by vivid daydreams of glory on the international stage.
Cite this Entry
“Ignis fatuus.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ignis%20fatuus. Accessed 29 Jun. 2026.
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