as in pipe dream
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Recent Examples of ignis fatuus
Several sources say ignis fatuus, a spark of swamp gas, is the likely cause of the strange light.
—
Fox News, 3 Mar. 2023
The story also helped explain ignis fatuus, a natural phenomenon that occurs in marshlands and bogs—such as those in Ireland’s countryside—producing flickering lights as gases from decomposing organic matter combust.
—National Geographic, 27 Oct. 2020
Fox News, 3 Mar. 2023
The story also helped explain ignis fatuus, a natural phenomenon that occurs in marshlands and bogs—such as those in Ireland’s countryside—producing flickering lights as gases from decomposing organic matter combust.
—National Geographic, 27 Oct. 2020
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ignis fatuus
Noun
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Playoff hopes have suddenly become a playoff pipe dream for the Columbus Blue Jackets.—
Aaron Portzline,
New York Times,
6 Apr. 2025
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Getty Images Getty Images Since then, going lighter with my natural hair color became a pipe dream of sorts.—
Jennifer Hussein,
Allure,
4 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Unless his past is a mirage, the same won’t be said about Juan Soto.—
Bob Raissman,
New York Daily News,
15 Mar. 2025
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The club is hoping that RF Victor Robles’ bounce-back season was not a mirage and that CF Julio Rodriguez is ready to take the next step to superstardom.—
Tony Blengino,
Forbes,
12 Mar. 2025
Noun
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The chimera turned out really well.—
Rick Porter,
The Hollywood Reporter,
10 Mar. 2025
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The air defense community has pursued this chimera for decades.—
James Stavridis,
The Mercury News,
15 Feb. 2025
Noun
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The hypocrisies of what might be called humanity’s delusions of superiority suggest the need for deeper questioning.—
Billy J. Stratton,
The Conversation,
7 Apr. 2025
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For those who, against all evidence to the contrary, dismiss these ambitions as mere delusions, that's exactly what the British Empire—the mightiest global force of its day—said when 13 fractious colonies issued the Declaration of Independence almost 250 years ago this July.—
John W. Dean,
MSNBC Newsweek,
7 Apr. 2025
Noun
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All those books teaching parents how to take care of their children—the first year, the first eighteen months, the first five or ten years—none of them addresses this difficulty: for parents and for children, the border between reality and unreality is not always clearly marked.—
Yiyun Li,
The New Yorker,
23 Mar. 2025
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As the novel progresses, this sense of unreality sharpens.—
Jordan Kisner,
The Atlantic,
4 Apr. 2025
Noun
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The video poignantly contrasts between a life with and without the threat of gun violence through a little girl’s daydream.—
Kara Nesvig,
Parents,
10 Mar. 2025
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But true love isn’t built in daydreams—it’s built in real-time, with real people.—
Mark Travers,
Forbes,
21 Feb. 2025
Noun
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According to the documentary, De Beers created an illusion of diamond scarcity by controlling supply and demand.—
Garth Friesen,
Forbes,
22 Mar. 2025
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These individuals, who have spent their lives cultivating their skills, embody a kind of magic that has nothing to do with illusions or technology but everything to do with the human spirit.—
Tony Bradley,
Forbes,
22 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Ignis fatuus.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ignis%20fatuus. Accessed 22 Apr. 2025.
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