pipe dream
UK/ˈpaɪp driːm/US/ˈpaɪp ˌdrim/
pipe dream noun: a desire or idea which is unlikely to materialize, or a plan which is unlikely to work; a near impossibility.
Noun
pipe dream (plural pipe dreams)
- A desire or idea which is unlikely to materialize, or a plan which is unlikely to work; a near impossibility.
- I think that his plan to become a professional athlete is a pipe dream and that he should stay in school.
- Only a year ago it would have needed a "super-Micawber" to be optimistic that the railways would once again pay their way. But it was no longer a pipe dream that B.R. could make a profit, the way to do it was now clear.1962 December, “Dr. Beeching Previews the Plan for British Railways”, in Modern Railways, Shepperton, Surrey: Ian Allan Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 376
- Synonyms:
- castle in the air, pie in the sky
pipe dream meaning in Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada
pipe dream in Tamil
- pipe dream
- பகற்கனவு pakaṟkaṉavu
pipe dream in Malayalam
- false hope, fantasy, illusion
- നടക്കാത്ത സ്വപ്നം, സ്വപ്നം, ഭാവി സൗഭാഗ്യ സംഭാവ്യത, കിനാവ്, ഭ്രമകല്പന, വിചിത്രകല്പന
pipe dream in Kannada
- ಕನಸಿನ ಯೋಜನೆ, ಕಾಲ್ಪನಿಕ ಆಸೆ, ಕಾರ್ಯಸಾಧ್ಯವಲ್ಲದ ನಿರೀಕ್ಷೆ, ಅಂಗೈಯಲ್ಲಿ ಅರಮನೆ, ಕೈಗೂಡದ ಯೋಜನೆ
Synonyms of pipe dream
Forms of pipe dream
| plural | pipe dreams |
|---|---|
| alternative form | pipedream |
Origin of pipe dream
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.
Words formed from pipe dream
- pipe-dream
- pipedreamed
- pipe-dreamer
- pipe dreaming
Questions about pipe dream
- What does pipe dream mean?
- Pipe dream means a desire or idea which is unlikely to materialize, or a plan which is unlikely to work; a near impossibility.
- What is pipe dream in Tamil?
- Pipe dream in Tamil is பகற்கனவு (pakaṟkaṉavu). See Pipe dream meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is pipe dream?
- Pipe dream is a noun.
- How do you pronounce pipe dream?
- Pipe dream is pronounced /ˈpaɪp driːm/ (UK).
- What is the plural of pipe dream?
- The plural of pipe dream is pipe dreams.
Words near pipe dream in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: pipe dream (page history and authors); பகற்கனவு (Tamil) (page history and authors); pipe dream (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license); pipe dream (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-pipe dream.ogg.
Cite this entry: “pipe dream.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/pipe_dream. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.