pipe dream

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• Received-Pronunciation: /ˈpaɪp driːm/
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• General-American: /ˈpaɪp ˌdrim/
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• Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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From pipe + dream, referring to the fantasies experienced when smoking an opium pipe. Compare Old English pīpdrēam (“the sound or music of a pipe”), which is formed identically but has a different meaning.

47 source translations are retained for this English entry.

• Afrikaans: lugkasteel — desire or idea which is unlikely to materialize, or a plan which is unlikely to work
• Afrikaans: wensdroom — desire or idea which is unlikely to materialize, or a plan which is unlikely to work
• Armenian: անիրականալի երազանք (anirakanali erazankʻ) — desire or idea which is unlikely to materialize, or a plan which is unlikely to work
• Armenian: ցնորք (cʻnorkʻ) — desire or idea which is unlikely to materialize, or a plan which is unlikely to work
• Bashkir: буш хыял (buş) — desire or idea which is unlikely to materialize, or a plan which is unlikely to work
• Bulgarian: празна надежда (prazna nadežda) — desire or idea which is unlikely to materialize, or a plan which is unlikely to work
• Bulgarian: въздушна мечта (vǎzdušna mečta) — desire or idea which is unlikely to materialize, or a plan which is unlikely to work
• Catalan: entelèquia — desire or idea which is unlikely to materialize, or a plan which is unlikely to work
• Chinese Mandarin: 妄想 (wàngxiǎng) — desire or idea which is unlikely to materialize, or a plan which is unlikely to work
• Chinese Mandarin: 春秋大夢 /春秋大梦 (chūnqiūdàmèng) — desire or idea which is unlikely to materialize, or a plan which is unlikely to work
• Czech: vzdušné zámky — desire or idea which is unlikely to materialize, or a plan which is unlikely to work
• Danish: luftkastel — desire or idea which is unlikely to materialize, or a plan which is unlikely to work
• Danish: ønskedrøm — desire or idea which is unlikely to materialize, or a plan which is unlikely to work
• Dutch: luchtkasteel — desire or idea which is unlikely to materialize, or a plan which is unlikely to work
• Dutch: wensdroom — desire or idea which is unlikely to materialize, or a plan which is unlikely to work
• Esperanto: aerkastelo — desire or idea which is unlikely to materialize, or a plan which is unlikely to work
• Esperanto: ĥimero — desire or idea which is unlikely to materialize, or a plan which is unlikely to work
• Finnish: pilvilinna — desire or idea which is unlikely to materialize, or a plan which is unlikely to work
• French: chimère — desire or idea which is unlikely to materialize, or a plan which is unlikely to work
• French: rêve chimérique — desire or idea which is unlikely to materialize, or a plan which is unlikely to work
• German: Luftschloss — desire or idea which is unlikely to materialize, or a plan which is unlikely to work
• German: Schnapsidee — desire or idea which is unlikely to materialize, or a plan which is unlikely to work
• German: Wunschtraum — desire or idea which is unlikely to materialize, or a plan which is unlikely to work
• Greek: ονειροφαντασία (oneirofantasía) — desire or idea which is unlikely to materialize, or a plan which is unlikely to work
• Greek: ὀνειροπόληση (oneiropólisi) — desire or idea which is unlikely to materialize, or a plan which is unlikely to work
• Hungarian: ábránd — desire or idea which is unlikely to materialize, or a plan which is unlikely to work
• Hungarian: légvár — desire or idea which is unlikely to materialize, or a plan which is unlikely to work
• Hungarian: vágyálom — desire or idea which is unlikely to materialize, or a plan which is unlikely to work
• Japanese: 夢物語 (yumemonogatari) — desire or idea which is unlikely to materialize, or a plan which is unlikely to work
• Japanese: 絵空事 (esoragoto) — desire or idea which is unlikely to materialize, or a plan which is unlikely to work
• Māori: waitara — desire or idea which is unlikely to materialize, or a plan which is unlikely to work
• Norwegian: luftslott — desire or idea which is unlikely to materialize, or a plan which is unlikely to work
• Norwegian: ønskedrøm — desire or idea which is unlikely to materialize, or a plan which is unlikely to work
• Polish: marzenie ściętej głowy — desire or idea which is unlikely to materialize, or a plan which is unlikely to work
• Polish: miraż — desire or idea which is unlikely to materialize, or a plan which is unlikely to work
• Polish: mrzonka — desire or idea which is unlikely to materialize, or a plan which is unlikely to work
• Portuguese: quimera — desire or idea which is unlikely to materialize, or a plan which is unlikely to work
• Spanish: castillo en el aire — desire or idea which is unlikely to materialize, or a plan which is unlikely to work
• Spanish: entelequia — desire or idea which is unlikely to materialize, or a plan which is unlikely to work
• Spanish: quimera — desire or idea which is unlikely to materialize, or a plan which is unlikely to work
• Spanish: sueño guajiro — desire or idea which is unlikely to materialize, or a plan which is unlikely to work
• Spanish: ensueño imposible — desire or idea which is unlikely to materialize, or a plan which is unlikely to work
• Swedish: luftslott — desire or idea which is unlikely to materialize, or a plan which is unlikely to work
• Swedish: önskedröm — desire or idea which is unlikely to materialize, or a plan which is unlikely to work
• Turkish: boş hayal — desire or idea which is unlikely to materialize, or a plan which is unlikely to work
• Turkish: hülya — desire or idea which is unlikely to materialize, or a plan which is unlikely to work
• Welsh: breuddwyd gwrach — desire or idea which is unlikely to materialize, or a plan which is unlikely to work