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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What was once thought of as a pipe dream for hockey fans in South Florida is about to finally become reality.—
Jordan McPherson,
Miami Herald,
1 Jan. 2026
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Aikman, who won three Super Bowls with the franchise under Jones, would seemingly be an ideal candidate for Jones to eschew some or all of his GM duties off on, but there’s little evidence that’s ever been more than a pipe dream for Cowboys fans.—
SportsDay Staff,
Dallas Morning News,
1 Jan. 2026
Noun
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And that is what makes Mother Nature’s miracle this winter a mirage.—
Deputy Managing Editor,
Los Angeles Times,
20 Jan. 2026
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In the present day, Muck crashes his dinner party with lewd outbursts and runs off with an old friend (Jack Farthing), who is later revealed to be a mirage of his late father.—
Natalie Oganesyan,
Deadline,
18 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Look behind that curtain and see that the great and powerful Oz is a chimera.—
Laura Washington,
Chicago Tribune,
14 Jan. 2026
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The Animal Legal Defense Fund, an animal advocacy organization, argued that if such chimeras gained humanlike awareness, they should be treated as human research subjects.—
Monika Piotrowska,
The Conversation,
8 Dec. 2025
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.—
Patrick Ryan,
USA Today,
12 Sep. 2025
Noun
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The therapist could practice on a person pretending to have delusions, though this is likely costly and logistically complicated to arrange.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes.com,
27 Jan. 2026
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The neuropsychiatric effects of Huntington's disease include mood changes and altered thinking, such as hallucinations and delusions.—
Heidi Moawad,
Verywell Health,
19 Jan. 2026
Noun
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To hear about a mass shooting in another city is to feel one is at the periphery of ongoing history; but perversely, to live near the site of a shooting is to feel nothing has changed except that unreality has come closer.—
Karan Mahajan,
New Yorker,
15 Dec. 2025
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In giving each of its characters new foils, the unreality of the show finally takes off.—
Fran Hoepfner,
Vulture,
24 Nov. 2025
Noun
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An open-air courtyard centers around a fountain, while the legendary pool—at 23,000 square feet, one of the largest hotel pools in the country and the largest on the East Coast—stretches beneath palms like something from a Gatsby daydream.—
Lisa A. Beach,
Southern Living,
23 Jan. 2026
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Bob Weir, the singer, songwriter, guitarist, and co-founder of the Grateful Dead, whose songs about sunshine daydreams and truckin’ helped turn the jam band into a 60-year musical empire, has died at age 78.—
Richard Gehr,
Rolling Stone,
10 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Ignis fatuus.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ignis%20fatuus. Accessed 30 Jan. 2026.
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