as in dreams
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 dreams
Music promoters, both craving the one-upmanship and genuine satisfaction of getting a lucrative band back on a stage, have more money at their disposal than ever before to make their pipe dreams a reality.
—
Devon Ivie, Vulture, 13 Nov. 2025
The stalker pipe dreams need to stop here.
—Micah McCartney, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 Nov. 2025
The idea that renewables alone can power the American economy is nonsense given the current technology, green pipe dreams notwithstanding.
—Editorial, Boston Herald, 8 Sep. 2025
Devon Ivie, Vulture, 13 Nov. 2025
The stalker pipe dreams need to stop here.
—Micah McCartney, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 Nov. 2025
The idea that renewables alone can power the American economy is nonsense given the current technology, green pipe dreams notwithstanding.
—Editorial, Boston Herald, 8 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pipe dreams
Noun
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Harriette Cole is a lifestylist and founder of DREAMLEAPERS, an initiative to help people access and activate their dreams.—
Harriette Cole,
Mercury News,
8 June 2026
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My husband, inspired by the radio dramas of his childhood, planned the trek with dreams of celebrating, if not re-creating, history.—
The New Yorker,
New Yorker,
8 June 2026
Noun
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On Monday afternoon, the AP projected that Raman would advance to the November general election, setting up a contest between two Democrats with sharply different visions for the city.—
Teresa Liu,
Daily News,
10 June 2026
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Fresh off the stunning success of Jaws, Spielberg began working on an alien epic about an average Joe (played by Richard Dreyfuss) who begins to see unexplained lights in the sky and has visions of a mysterious tower.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
10 June 2026
Noun
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But our conversation ended up being so much about women and mothers generally, and how people in their lives create these illusions of normalcy and these illusions of perfection based on superficial stuff.—
David Canfield,
HollywoodReporter,
6 June 2026
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Pay attention to what feels heavy or emotionally one-sided right now, because this transit isn’t here to keep up with illusions.—
Valerie Mesa,
PEOPLE,
27 May 2026
Noun
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These fantasies can all skew toward exclusionary extremism on the left and the right.—
Eliza Goodpasture,
ARTnews.com,
3 June 2026
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In those pages, Fiedler dared to argue that many of America’s boyish and putatively innocent classics are in fact fantasies of interracial, homosexual romance.—
Becca Rothfeld,
New Yorker,
1 June 2026
Noun
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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
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Nina, Karen and Caroline started appearing in my daydreams, full of vigor and life lessons.—
Jennifer Acker,
PEOPLE,
8 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Pipe dreams.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pipe%20dreams. Accessed 12 Jun. 2026.
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