desert mirage
Shimmering false oasis
A desert mirage is an optical illusion caused by light bending through layers of air at different temperatures, making distant objects appear displaced or creating the appearance of water on hot sand.
The shimmering "lake" that vanishes as you approach is the classic example.
Figuratively, a desert mirage is any tantalizing vision that proves illusory: The promised promotion turned out to be a desert mirage.
- shimmeringGleaming with wavering light
- heat wavesSustained extreme high temperatures
- illusionMisleading sensory impression
- trick of the lightMisleading visual perception
- false hopeUnfounded expectation of success
heat · scorching sun · sand · haze · wavering · thirst · dying of thirst · horizon · hallucination · seeing things · dunes · sun · reflection · phantom · water · scorching · distortion · vanishing
- American folklorePaul Bunyan, tall tales, folk heroes, John Henry, folk narratives
- miragesheat shimmer, heat haze
- dreamscapesfloating islands, impossible stairs, melting clocks, flying dreams, falling sensation
desert miragereality
What actually exists
the real thing · solid ground · genuine article · truth · substance
desert mirageoasis
Fertile desert spot
water source · promised land · sure thing · watering hole · spring
desert mirageocean
Massive saltwater body
rainforest · swamp · wetland · glacier · river delta
desert, deserts, deserted, deserting, desertion, desertification, mirage, mirages