as far away as Timbuktu
- idiom
- Informal
:
tan lejos como Tombuctú
- Financial stability sometimes seems as far away as Timbuktu for those struggling with debt.
Examples
-
In high school, college felt as far away as Timbuktu to many students in the village.
-
The technology we wanted was as far away as Timbuktu when we started the project.
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The treasure is hidden as far away as Timbuktu!
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You might as well search as far away as Timbuktu for that lost item.
-
For many young children, the dream of space travel seems as far away as Timbuktu.
-
When she first started her career, finding a job in the city felt as far away as Timbuktu.
-
To some, achieving financial security can feel as far away as Timbuktu amid rising expenses.
Synonyms
246
2.8
Far away in space, not near you
241
1.0
At a great distance in space or time
218
3.6
Far away from towns and people
45
4.2
Very far away in place or time
38
4.0
Too far or too expensive for most people to get
34
2.8
Far from here in place or time
15
4.9
Too difficult to get to because of where or how it is
15
6.7
In a place you cannot get to easily, often used in stories
13
6.3
Distant places spread over a very wide area
10
6.1
Far from towns and not easy to reach
1
9.8
A place far from towns and people
Hard to find because it is in a faraway or unknown place
To travel to a distant place to find adventure
Antonyms
How Far
Surface Forms
Morphology
as + far + away + as + Timbuktu
The structure 'as far away as X' is compositional: the comparative frame 'as ... as' plus 'far' and 'away' directly signals great distance, and inserting a named place (Timbuktu) merely supplies an extreme distant reference. This pattern of using a prototypically remote place to indicate very great distance is cross-linguistically common and therefore immediately understandable to a B1 learner who knows the constituent words and the place reference.
Etymology
The phrase as far away as Timbuktu comes from old travel stories where Timbuktu was seen as a very distant city. People had to cross hot deserts and travel for many days to reach it, so saying something is as far away as Timbuktu means it feels 'very distant' or 'hard to reach'.