pie in the sky
10
7.5
- idiom
- /paɪ ɪn ðə skaɪ/
- Informal
:
castillo en el aire
- Her plan to solve the city's traffic problems with flying cars is clearly just a pie in the sky idea.
- pie in the sky stuff
- pie in the sky promises
- pie in the sky dream
I mean, I think in retrospect, that whole campaign looks like a pie in the sky kind of fairy tale.
- I mean, I think in retrospect, that whole campaign looks like a pie in the sky kind of fairy tale.
- So they may in some cases have an enabling narcissistic parent who keeps throwing money at their pie in the sky foolish ideas.
- So Austrian economists are pie in the sky theorists about like how human nature works.
- You may have your own pie in the sky, fantastical ideas about what you're doing, which is often the case, especially with my, my former party.
- But this was definitely pie in the sky types of things that you're in.
- And, and there is some benefit to doing that so that you're not just pie in the sky and Pollyanna all the time.
Examples
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A renewables infrastructure isn't some pie-in-the-sky hippie green thing, irrespective of personal choices about body art.
Blog text (16) -
You'll see that it's not just pie in the sky, but a very real prospect.
Blog text (4) -
Well, let me tell you, it's a pie in the sky dream right now.
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You and your pie in the sky ideas.
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It's a pie in the sky idea.
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I would not go so far as to say that it is pie in the sky.
Academic text (2001) -
Well, that may be a bit pie in the sky.
Academic text (2001) -
I mean, I think in retrospect, that whole campaign looks like a pie in the sky kind of fairy tale.
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But reality has a way of interfering with futuristic pie in the sky calculations like this.
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You cite Romney's lack of specifics and his possibly pie-in-the-sky plan to balance the budget.
Blog text (23)
Synonyms
36
8.1
A hope that is beautiful but unlikely to come true
23
6.8
A hope or plan that is not likely to happen
22
7.7
An idea or hope that seems real but is not possible
8
4.6
A belief about the future that is not likely to happen
8
6.1
Far more than someone could ever imagine
7
7.4
An imaginative idea that is unlikely to be true or useful
6
6.4
An idea or plan that people reject as unlikely to work
4
6.8
A hope for something you cannot achieve
1
7.4
A very ambitious and risky project that may fail
1
8.2
An idea or plan that is unrealistic and unlikely to happen
A hope that seems unlikely to come true
Antonyms
How Realistic
∞
1.0
- Informal
45
4.1
- Informal
10
7.5
- Informal
23
6.8
Surface Forms
Morphology
The idiomatic sense ‘an unlikely or impractical hope’ does not follow directly from the literal words 'pie' and 'sky' — a B1 learner who knows the constituents would more likely imagine a literal pie in the sky rather than infer an abstract notion of impossibility. Any metaphorical reading (pie = reward; sky = unreachable) requires cultural or historical knowledge and is not predictably derived from the parts, so the expression is opaque to learners without prior exposure.
Etymology
Pie in the sky comes from an old song that mocked promises of a sweet pie in the sky after people died. That's why the phrase now means a nice idea or promise that is 'unlikely' or 'unrealistic'.