as in dream
a conception or image created by the imagination and having no objective reality
opening our own restaurant has long been a pipe dream
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Recent Examples of pipe dream
The stalker pipe dreams need to stop here.
—
Micah McCartney, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 Nov. 2025
Friends called it a pipe dream.
—Matthew Sedacca, Curbed, 5 Nov. 2025
Expecting it to be now seems like a pipe dream.
—Jace Frederick, Twin Cities, 17 Oct. 2025
Dozens of companies are now competing to make the world’s first viable humanoid robot, convinced that recent advances in AI have made what was once a pipe dream into achievable reality.
—Billy Perrigo, Time, 14 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pipe dream
Micah McCartney, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 Nov. 2025
Friends called it a pipe dream.
—Matthew Sedacca, Curbed, 5 Nov. 2025
Expecting it to be now seems like a pipe dream.
—Jace Frederick, Twin Cities, 17 Oct. 2025
Dozens of companies are now competing to make the world’s first viable humanoid robot, convinced that recent advances in AI have made what was once a pipe dream into achievable reality.
—Billy Perrigo, Time, 14 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pipe dream
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pipe dream
Noun
-
Sadly, his college ball dreams didn’t come to fruition after the coach who called him up retired.—
Marina Watts,
PEOPLE,
13 Jan. 2026
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Over the past seven years, Blake Lively brought her dream hair care line to life by redefining the beauty industry with a blend of passion, precision and purpose.—
Kanika Talwar,
Footwear News,
13 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Everything that appears normal is an illusion, a bigger lie than The Big Lie.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
29 Jan. 2026
-
The creative team includes movement by Steven Hoggett, sets by Christine Jones, costumes by Katrina Lindsay, music by Imogen Heap, lighting by Neil Austin, sound by Gareth Fry and illusions by Jamie Harrison.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
28 Jan. 2026
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
Noun
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The 49ers have struggled with injuries in recent seasons, with fantasy football website Rotowire ranking them fourth worst in the league in injuries in both 2025 and 2024.—
Alex Valdes,
New York Times,
22 Jan. 2026
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Not only that, but these three players will be very affordable in your dynasty fantasy football league.—
Steve Bradshaw,
Forbes.com,
22 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Its onboard computer vision allows real-time detection and target tracking without external control, marking a significant step toward fully autonomous battlefield systems.—
Atharva Gosavi,
Interesting Engineering,
28 Jan. 2026
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For Jonathan Anderson’s vision of beauty at his first Dior women’s show in October, Guido Palau fluffed up models’ natural texture, not dissimilar from the windswept waves and pre-Raphaelite curls the hairstylist created for Veronica Leoni’s September Calvin Klein debut.—
Arden Fanning Andrews,
Vogue,
28 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Pipe dream.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pipe%20dream. Accessed 30 Jan. 2026.
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