pipe dream
[noun]
Synonyms: bubble, chimera, dream, fantasy (or phantasy), illusion, pipe, rainbow

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Related Words: expectation, hope, prospect

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English Thesaurus: dream, ambition, aspirations, fantasy, pipe dream, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

pipe dream noun

1. a hope or plan that is impossible to achieve or not practicalTopics
   Word Originlate 19th cent.: referring to a dream experienced when smoking an opium pipe.

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[TahlilGaran] English Dictionary ▲

dream something very special that you want to do and that you think about a lot, especially something that is not very likely to happen:
As a teenager, his dream was to become a professional footballer.
ambition something that you want to achieve and that you work hard to achieve, especially in your work:
My ambition had always been to start my own business.
aspirations the important things that people want from their lives – used especially about the things a society or a large group of people wants:
It’s important that young people think seriously about their career aspirations.
fantasy something exciting that you imagine happening to you, which is extremely unlikely to happen and often involves sex:
schoolboy fantasies
pipe dream a dream that is impossible or is extremely unlikely to happen:
Is world peace no more than a pipe dream?

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

dream the thoughts, images, and feelings that go through your mind while you are asleep:
I had a strange dream last night -- you and I were in some sort of forest.
nightmare a very unpleasant and frightening dream:
She still has terrible nightmares about the accident.
daydream a series of pleasant thoughts that go through your mind when you are awake, so that you do not notice what is happening around you:
Neil was in a daydream, and didn’t hear the teacher call his name.
reverie formal a state of imagining or thinking about pleasant things, that is like dreaming:
The doorbell rang, shaking her from her reverie.
ambition something that you want to achieve and that you work hard to achieve, especially in your work:
My ambition had always been to start my own business.
aspirations the important things that people want from their lives – used especially about the things a society or a large group of people wants:
It’s important that young people think seriously about their career aspirations.
fantasy something exciting that you imagine happening to you, which is extremely unlikely to happen and often involves sex:
schoolboy fantasies
pipe dream a dream that is impossible or is extremely unlikely to happen:
Is world peace no more than a pipe dream?

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

pipe dream
an idea that could never happen because it is impossible.
The classless society is just a pipe dream.

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲

pipe dream
n., informal An unrealizable, financially unsound, wishful way of thinking; an unrealistic plan.
Joe went through the motions of pretending that he wanted to buy that $250,000 house, but his wife candidly told the real estate lady that it was just a pipe dream.
Compare: PIE IN THE SKY.

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲