air castle
Imagined future glory
An air castle is a fanciful dream or impractical scheme—something built in imagination rather than reality.
The image suggests a structure with no foundation, floating unsupported.
The term is less common than its synonym castle in the air or castle in the sky: His plans for early retirement were just air castles.
- daydreamConscious fantasy while awake
- fantasyImaginative mental wandering
- illusionMisleading sensory impression
- pipe dreamUnrealistic aspiration
- pie in the skyUnrealistic hope or plan
reverie · head in the clouds · cloud · wishful thinking · imagination · flight of fancy · tower · mirage · fool's paradise · utopia · dreamer · floating · sky · ethereal · whimsy · delusion · fairy tale · hope
concreteness and substance
air castlereality
What actually exists
actuality · fact · solid ground · terra firma · hard facts
air, castle, airs, airy, airily, airiness, airing, aired, castles