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Glite Dictionary
Laputa

Laputa

1 9.9
An imaginary floating island in Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels where people focus on useless ideas instead of practical matters
  • proper noun
  • /ləˈpjuːtə/
  • Literature
translation icon : Laputa
  • Whenever he wasn't working on the project, Nguyen would personally lead reporters through Laputa.
  • island of Laputa

Examples

  • I stayed put and watched the jeep pull up to Laputa's stairs.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • By the time we reached Laputa, Wetherall was already planning his counter-strike.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • I had put on a Laputa uniform so that I could pass as one of the staff.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • I was back in control by the time I got back to Laputa.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • We had embarked on our own journey to Laputa.

    Academic text (1994)

  • Murk Janglish tried to explain it during one of his visits to Laputa.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • In this respect, the mathematicians on the flying island of Laputa have much in common with the Underlanders they dominate and despise.

    Academic text (2016)

  • I've never been able to get past my first impression of Laputa: an odd combination of a yacht and my Aunt Galadriel's house.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • Nguyen had Laputa towed to where Wetherall's lifthouse was under construction.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • In Jonathan Swift's novel, the floating island of Laputa is inhabited by people who are more interested in theoretical projects than practical tasks.

Surface Forms

Laputa main

Etymology

Laputa was invented by Jonathan Swift as the name of a floating island in Gulliver's Travels, so think of it as a place that 'floats away' from ordinary life. A helpful way to remember Laputa is to picture clever people so lost in theory that their island rises above everyday problems, which is why the name stands for impractical, out-of-touch thinking.