noun phrase🎓 English idiom
pipe dream
an unrealistic hope or plan
What it means
A pipe dream is a hope, plan, or fantasy that is so unlikely to come true that it's basically wishful thinking. It's used to dismiss schemes that sound nice but ignore real constraints — career fantasies, business ideas without a market, or political promises with no path to delivery.
Examples
- Quitting my job to become a full-time poet was just a pipe dream.
- His plan to retire by thirty turned out to be a pipe dream.
- Universal flying cars by 2025 was always a pipe dream.
- It sounds romantic, but moving to Bali is a pipe dream on that salary.
Where it comes from
An American English expression from the late 1800s, referring to fantasies experienced while smoking an opium pipe. The phrase quickly broadened to describe any unrealistic ambition, and the drug reference faded.
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