out of thin air

English

Alternative forms

• from thin air

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU)

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Adverb

out of thin air (not comparable)

1. (idiomatic) From nowhere or nothing; from a non-existent or unknown source.

   They don't seem to want to work to earn a living. They think they can make money out of thin air.

   • 2019 April 6, Caleb Quinley, “Thailand: Anti-military party leader faces sedition charges”, in Al Jazeera‎^[1], Doha: Al Jazeera, retrieved 2019-04-06:

     "The criminal cases against Thanathorn show the military government's contempt for the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful dissent. It's a glaring example of how draconian laws are pulled out of thin air and arbitrarily enforced to punish the prominent opposition leader," he said.

Usage notes

• This is often preceded by verbs such as create, make or conjure.

Synonyms

• out of nowhere

Translations

from non-existent resource

• Chinese: 無中生有／无中生有 (zh) (wúzhōng-shēngyǒu)
• Danish: ud af den blå luft
• Finnish: tyhjästä
• French: de nulle part
• German: aus dem Nichts
• Italian: fuori dal cilindro, dal nulla
• Polish: z sufitu
• Portuguese: do nada (pt)
• Russian: из воздуха (iz vozduxa)
• Spanish: de la nada
• Turkish: yoktan

See also

• pull out of one's ass
• hammerspace
• into thin air
• thin air