as in dream
a conception or image created by the imagination and having no objective reality opening our own restaurant has long been a pipe dream
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Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of pipe dream During his time at Colgate, the team earned two NCAA tournament trips via back-to-back Patriot League titles, but the Final Four seemed like a pipe dream to someone at a low major. —
Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 3 Apr. 2026 But their coffee shop, once a pipe dream, will soon become a reality. —Jenna Thompson, Kansas City Star, 3 Apr. 2026 In other words, sustainability isn’t just a pipe dream here. —Julia Harrison, Architectural Digest, 30 Mar. 2026 Years back, a Tentsile tent light enough for unencumbered backpacking or bikepacking seemed little more than a pipe dream. —New Atlas, 25 Mar. 2026 See All Example Sentences for pipe dream
Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 3 Apr. 2026 But their coffee shop, once a pipe dream, will soon become a reality. —Jenna Thompson, Kansas City Star, 3 Apr. 2026 In other words, sustainability isn’t just a pipe dream here. —Julia Harrison, Architectural Digest, 30 Mar. 2026 Years back, a Tentsile tent light enough for unencumbered backpacking or bikepacking seemed little more than a pipe dream. —New Atlas, 25 Mar. 2026 See All Example Sentences for pipe dream
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pipe dream
Noun
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Near the end of this complex six-hundred-page book, Yamashita switches to a collective pronoun, suggesting that a common dream has connected her characters.— Hua Hsu, New Yorker, 20 Apr. 2026
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For aspiring writers scrolling through deal announcements on industry sites or social media, those vague labels can fuel both dreams and misconceptions.— Josh Rivera, USA Today, 19 Apr. 2026
Noun
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But as their profile rises, so do the risks, and the illusion proves increasingly difficult to maintain.— Anthony D'Alessandro, Deadline, 22 Apr. 2026
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Jaden McDaniels isn’t worried about the illusion of respect.— Bennett Durando, Denver Post, 21 Apr. 2026
Noun
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The family car is a Mazda, but Zac daydreams of a Bugatti Veyron.— Frank Langfitt, NPR, 4 Apr. 2026
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More than masturbatory daydreams, Vladimir inspires our heroine to write with abandon, ignoring professional and personal obligations in service to her muse.— Alison Herman, Variety, 5 Mar. 2026
Noun
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For much of the season, three trophies would have felt like absolute fantasy.— Sam Lee, New York Times, 23 Apr. 2026
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But what Danielson says was intended as a symbolic protest escalated dramatically amid paranoid fantasies, prosaic miscommunications, and the false report of a gun.— Tessa Stuart, Rolling Stone, 23 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Maybe only 22 percent of Americans would readily accept Homelander as their one true God, but his vision might also appeal to those Christians whose fanatic prejudices outweigh any specific loyalty to the Bible and its lessons in compassion.— Ben Rosenstock, Vulture, 22 Apr. 2026
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Danish billionaire Anders Holch Povlsen created WildLand to help achieve his ambitious 200-year vision to rewild 220,000 acres in the Highlands.— Jen Murphy, Condé Nast Traveler, 22 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Pipe dream.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.grautoblog.com/thesaurus/pipe%20dream. Accessed 25 Apr. 2026.
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