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
-
The decades-long quest to build home robots that are both helpful and lifelike — spurred on by fictional machines like the Jetsons’ humanoid maid Rosie —- is still mostly a pipe dream.—
Matt O’Brien,
Los Angeles Times,
1 June 2026
-
The rapid normalization of working from home has reconfigured how and where talent operates, offering flexibility that was once a pipe dream.—
Vikram Joshi,
Forbes.com,
1 June 2026
Noun
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After miles upon miles of desolate sand and stones, the city materializes from the Mojave Desert almost like a mirage, with gas stations, restaurants, and hotels galore.—
Cu Fleshman,
Travel + Leisure,
23 May 2026
-
Critics on the Croisette are starting to resemble that classic comic-strip panel in which an explorer crawls desperately across the sand toward an oasis that’s only a mirage.—
Amy Nicholson,
Los Angeles Times,
19 May 2026
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).—
Britt Hayes,
Entertainment Weekly,
26 May 2026
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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.—
Gillian Stawiszynski,
Cincinnati Enquirer,
9 May 2026
Noun
-
As the guitar-strumming will-o'-the-wisp Maria von Trapp, Julie Andrews taught us a few of her favorite things.—
Patrick Ryan,
USA Today,
12 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Liaquat Ahamed has spent his career studying the moments when the world’s financial system breaks down — the bad bets, the collective delusions, and the geopolitical accidents that tip economies into catastrophe.—
Nick Lichtenberg,
Fortune,
2 June 2026
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Among these delusions is the perennial faith that Iranians are potentially ardent converts to American-style freedom, rather than inheritors of an ancient civilization with a trajectory outlined by its own specific history.—
Wyatt Williams,
Harpers Magazine,
2 June 2026
Noun
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The unreality of Lexi’s play gave us a fun-house mirror of the show cast back onto itself.—
Fran Hoepfner,
Vulture,
2 June 2026
-
The percussive score by Joseph Shirley and Moses Sumney underlines this, and gives the whole film an eerie, curious atmosphere, lending to a sense of nightmarish unreality.—
Katie Walsh,
Boston Herald,
15 May 2026
Noun
-
The heady scent—a mix of white florals, amber, and sandalwood—induces daydreams of tanning on a white-sand beach.—
Jenny Berg,
Vogue,
27 May 2026
-
Nina, Karen and Caroline started appearing in my daydreams, full of vigor and life lessons.—
Jennifer Acker,
PEOPLE,
8 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Ignis fatuus.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ignis%20fatuus. Accessed 8 Jun. 2026.
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