From the fantasies experienced when smoking an opium pipe, equivalent to pipe + dream. First attested in the 1800s. Compare Old English pīpdrēam (“the sound or music of a pipe”), which is an identical yet separate and unconnected formation.
pipe dream (plural pipe dreams)
- (idiomatic) A plan, desire or idea that will not likely work; a near impossibility.
- Synonyms: castle in the air, pie in the sky
I think that his plan to become a professional athlete is a pipe dream and that he should stay in school.
1962 December, “Dr. Beeching previews the plan for British Railways”, in Modern Railways, page 376:Only a year ago it would have needed a "super-Micawber" to be optimistic that the railways would once again pay their way. But it was no longer a pipe dream that B.R. could make a profit, the way to do it was now clear.
near impossibility
- Afrikaans: lugkasteel (air castle), wensdroom (wishful dream)
- Armenian: անիրականալի երազանք (anirakanali erazankʻ), ցնորք (hy) (cʻnorkʻ)
- Bashkir: буш (buş) хыял (xıyal)
- Bulgarian: празна надежда f (prazna nadežda), въздушна мечта (vǎzdušna mečta)
- Catalan: entelèquia (ca) f
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 妄想 (zh) (wàngxiǎng)
- Czech: vzdušné zámky m pl (air castles)
- Danish: ønskedrøm c, luftkastel n
- Dutch: luchtkasteel (nl) n (air castle), wensdroom (nl) m
- Esperanto: aerkastelo, ĥimero
- Finnish: pilvilinna (fi)
- French: rêve chimérique m, chimère (fr) f
- German: Luftschloss (de) n (air castle), Schnapsidee (de) n (booze idea), Wunschtraum (de) m
- Greek: ὀνειροπόληση f (oneiropólēsē), ονειροφαντασία (el) f (oneirofantasía)
- Hebrew: (formally, dreaming of Spain) חלומות באספמיה (he) m pl (ḥalomót be aspámya), (formally, tower flying in air) מִגְדָּל פּוֹרֵחַ בָּאֲוִיר (he) m (migdál poréaḥ baavír)
- Hungarian: légvár (hu), vágyálom (hu), ábránd (hu)
- Japanese: 夢物語 (ゆめものがたり, yumemonogatari)
- Maori: waitara
- Norwegian: luftslott (no) n, ønskedrøm m
- Polish: mrzonka (pl) f, miraż (pl) m, marzenie ściętej głowy (pl) n
- Portuguese: quimera (pt) f
- Russian: несбы́точная мечта́ f (nesbýtočnaja mečtá) (unrealizable dream), возду́шные за́мки m pl (vozdúšnyje zámki) (air castles)
- Spanish: quimera (es) f, entelequia (es) f, castillo en el aire m, sueño guajiro (es)
- Swedish: luftslott (sv) n, önskedröm (sv)
- Turkish: boş hayal (tr), hülya (tr)
- Welsh: breuddwyd gwrach (cy) m
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