castle in air
Unrealistic hope imagined
A castle in air is a fanciful plan or dream with no realistic foundation—something imagined but unlikely to be realized.
The phrase evokes an impossible structure suspended in empty space, built on nothing.
Someone who builds castles in the air indulges in pleasant fantasies rather than practical planning: Stop building castles in the air and focus on what's achievable.
Also castle in the sky.
- daydreamConscious fantasy while awake
- head in cloudsLost in fantasy
- fantasyImaginative mental wandering
- dream worldImaginary mental realm
- pipe dreamUnrealistic aspiration
pie in the sky · illusion · fool's paradise · wishful thinking · empty promises · chimera · mirage · reverie · flight of fancy · utopia · ivory tower · cloudland · delusion · whimsy · vision · blue sky thinking · dreamer · imaginary
- idealisticidealist, idealistic, utopian, quixotic, dreamer
- imaginationimagination, daydreaming, daydreams, fantasies, fantasy
- inattentiondistracted, spacing, absent-minded, distraction, obliviousness
- naivetygreenhorn, newbie, tenderfoot, raw recruit, born yesterday
castle in airsure thing
Guaranteed outcome or agreement
done deal · fait accompli · certainty · safe bet · bird in the hand
castle in airreality
What actually exists
solid ground · terra firma · bedrock · brass tacks · nuts and bolts
castle, castles, castled, castling, airs, airy, airily, airiness, aerate