"castle in the air" meaning in English

See castle in the air in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /ˈkɑːs(ə)l ɪn ðiː ˈɛə/ [Received-Pronunciation], /ˈkæs(ə)l ɪn ði ˈɛəɹ/ [General-American] Audio: en-au-castle in the air.ogg [Australia] Forms: castles in the air [plural]
Head templates: {{en-noun|castles in the air}} castle in the air (plural castles in the air)
  1. (idiomatic) A desire, idea, or plan that is unlikely to ever be realized; a visionary project or scheme; a daydream, an idle fancy, a near impossibility. Tags: idiomatic Categories (topical): Fictional locations Synonyms: air castle, castles in Spain, castle in the skies, eggs in moonshine, jam tomorrow, pie in the sky, pipe dream Derived forms: build air castles, build castles in the air Translations (desire, idea, or plan unlikely to ever be realized): kështjella në erë (Albanian), ëndrra në diell (Albanian), castells en l'aire [masculine, plural] (Catalan), 空中樓閣 (Chinese Mandarin), 空中楼阁 (kōngzhōnglóugé) (Chinese Mandarin), vzdušné zámky [masculine, plural] (Czech), luftkastel [neuter] (Danish), luchtkasteel [neuter] (Dutch), aerkastelo (Esperanto), ĥimero (Esperanto), harraborg [feminine] (Faroese), skýborg [feminine] (Faroese), tuulentupa (Finnish), pilvilinna (Finnish), châteaux en Espagne [masculine, plural] (French), castelos no ar (Galician), Luftschloss [neuter] (German), מִגְדָּל פּוֹרֵחַ בָּאֲוִיר (migdál poréaḥ baAvír) (Hebrew), légvár (Hungarian), waitara (Maori), luftslott [neuter] (Norwegian Bokmål), luftslott [neuter] (Norwegian Nynorsk), castelo de vento [masculine] (Portuguese), castelo no ar [masculine] (Portuguese), возду́шный за́мок (vozdúšnyj zámok) [masculine] (Russian), куле у зраку [Cyrillic, feminine, plural] (Serbo-Croatian), kule u zraku [Roman, feminine, plural] (Serbo-Croatian), castillos en el aire [masculine, plural] (Spanish), castillos de naipes [masculine, plural] (Spanish), luftslott [neuter] (Swedish)

Inflected forms

Download JSON data for castle in the air meaning in English (8.0kB)

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "castles in the air",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "castles in the air"
      },
      "expansion": "castle in the air (plural castles in the air)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "hyphenation": [
    "cas‧tle"
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with topic categories using raw markup",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
          "parents": [
            "Terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Hebrew terms with redundant script codes",
          "parents": [
            "Terms with redundant script codes",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Mandarin terms with redundant transliterations",
          "parents": [
            "Terms with redundant transliterations",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Fictional locations",
          "orig": "en:Fictional locations",
          "parents": [
            "Fiction",
            "Artistic works",
            "Art",
            "Culture",
            "Society",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "derived": [
        {
          "word": "build air castles"
        },
        {
          "word": "build castles in the air"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1696, John Vanbrugh, The Relapse; or, Virtue in Danger. […] (Bell’s British Theatre; XXVI), London: Printed for the proprietors, under the Direction of John Bell, […], published 1795, →OCLC, act III, scene ii, page 72",
          "text": "Look you, Amanda, you may build castles in the air, \"and fume, and fret, and grow thin and lean, and pale and ugly, if you please.\" But I tell you, no man worth having is true to his wife, or can be true to his wife, or ever was, or will be so.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2013 December 18, Kenneth Khulekani Khoza, Castles in the Air, [Bloomington, Ind.]: Xlibris, act I, scene i, page 21",
          "text": "We used to build castles in the air. We had big dreams. I'm not sure if you still have those dreams, but I still have dreams.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A desire, idea, or plan that is unlikely to ever be realized; a visionary project or scheme; a daydream, an idle fancy, a near impossibility."
      ],
      "id": "en-castle_in_the_air-en-noun-sBH2ltAW",
      "links": [
        [
          "desire",
          "desire#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "idea",
          "idea"
        ],
        [
          "plan",
          "plan#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "realize",
          "realize"
        ],
        [
          "visionary",
          "visionary"
        ],
        [
          "project",
          "project#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "scheme",
          "scheme#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "daydream",
          "daydream#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "idle",
          "idle"
        ],
        [
          "fancy",
          "fancy#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "near",
          "near"
        ],
        [
          "impossibility",
          "impossibility"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) A desire, idea, or plan that is unlikely to ever be realized; a visionary project or scheme; a daydream, an idle fancy, a near impossibility."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "air castle"
        },
        {
          "word": "castles in Spain"
        },
        {
          "word": "castle in the skies"
        },
        {
          "word": "eggs in moonshine"
        },
        {
          "word": "jam tomorrow"
        },
        {
          "word": "pie in the sky"
        },
        {
          "word": "pipe dream"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "sq",
          "lang": "Albanian",
          "sense": "desire, idea, or plan unlikely to ever be realized",
          "word": "kështjella në erë"
        },
        {
          "code": "sq",
          "lang": "Albanian",
          "sense": "desire, idea, or plan unlikely to ever be realized",
          "word": "ëndrra në diell"
        },
        {
          "code": "ca",
          "lang": "Catalan",
          "sense": "desire, idea, or plan unlikely to ever be realized",
          "tags": [
            "masculine",
            "plural"
          ],
          "word": "castells en l'aire"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "sense": "desire, idea, or plan unlikely to ever be realized",
          "word": "空中樓閣"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "kōngzhōnglóugé",
          "sense": "desire, idea, or plan unlikely to ever be realized",
          "word": "空中楼阁"
        },
        {
          "code": "cs",
          "lang": "Czech",
          "sense": "desire, idea, or plan unlikely to ever be realized",
          "tags": [
            "masculine",
            "plural"
          ],
          "word": "vzdušné zámky"
        },
        {
          "code": "da",
          "lang": "Danish",
          "sense": "desire, idea, or plan unlikely to ever be realized",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "luftkastel"
        },
        {
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "sense": "desire, idea, or plan unlikely to ever be realized",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "luchtkasteel"
        },
        {
          "code": "eo",
          "lang": "Esperanto",
          "sense": "desire, idea, or plan unlikely to ever be realized",
          "word": "aerkastelo"
        },
        {
          "code": "eo",
          "lang": "Esperanto",
          "sense": "desire, idea, or plan unlikely to ever be realized",
          "word": "ĥimero"
        },
        {
          "code": "fo",
          "lang": "Faroese",
          "sense": "desire, idea, or plan unlikely to ever be realized",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "harraborg"
        },
        {
          "code": "fo",
          "lang": "Faroese",
          "sense": "desire, idea, or plan unlikely to ever be realized",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "skýborg"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "desire, idea, or plan unlikely to ever be realized",
          "word": "tuulentupa"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "desire, idea, or plan unlikely to ever be realized",
          "word": "pilvilinna"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "desire, idea, or plan unlikely to ever be realized",
          "tags": [
            "masculine",
            "plural"
          ],
          "word": "châteaux en Espagne"
        },
        {
          "code": "gl",
          "lang": "Galician",
          "sense": "desire, idea, or plan unlikely to ever be realized",
          "word": "castelos no ar"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "desire, idea, or plan unlikely to ever be realized",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "Luftschloss"
        },
        {
          "code": "he",
          "lang": "Hebrew",
          "roman": "migdál poréaḥ baAvír",
          "sense": "desire, idea, or plan unlikely to ever be realized",
          "word": "מִגְדָּל פּוֹרֵחַ בָּאֲוִיר"
        },
        {
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "desire, idea, or plan unlikely to ever be realized",
          "word": "légvár"
        },
        {
          "code": "mi",
          "lang": "Maori",
          "sense": "desire, idea, or plan unlikely to ever be realized",
          "word": "waitara"
        },
        {
          "code": "nb",
          "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
          "sense": "desire, idea, or plan unlikely to ever be realized",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "luftslott"
        },
        {
          "code": "nn",
          "lang": "Norwegian Nynorsk",
          "sense": "desire, idea, or plan unlikely to ever be realized",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "luftslott"
        },
        {
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "desire, idea, or plan unlikely to ever be realized",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "castelo de vento"
        },
        {
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "desire, idea, or plan unlikely to ever be realized",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "castelo no ar"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "vozdúšnyj zámok",
          "sense": "desire, idea, or plan unlikely to ever be realized",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "возду́шный за́мок"
        },
        {
          "code": "sh",
          "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
          "sense": "desire, idea, or plan unlikely to ever be realized",
          "tags": [
            "Cyrillic",
            "feminine",
            "plural"
          ],
          "word": "куле у зраку"
        },
        {
          "code": "sh",
          "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
          "sense": "desire, idea, or plan unlikely to ever be realized",
          "tags": [
            "Roman",
            "feminine",
            "plural"
          ],
          "word": "kule u zraku"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "desire, idea, or plan unlikely to ever be realized",
          "tags": [
            "masculine",
            "plural"
          ],
          "word": "castillos en el aire"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "desire, idea, or plan unlikely to ever be realized",
          "tags": [
            "masculine",
            "plural"
          ],
          "word": "castillos de naipes"
        },
        {
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "desire, idea, or plan unlikely to ever be realized",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "luftslott"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈkɑːs(ə)l ɪn ðiː ˈɛə/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈkæs(ə)l ɪn ði ˈɛəɹ/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-au-castle in the air.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/3/36/En-au-castle_in_the_air.ogg/En-au-castle_in_the_air.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/36/En-au-castle_in_the_air.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "castle in the air"
}
{
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "build air castles"
    },
    {
      "word": "build castles in the air"
    }
  ],
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "castles in the air",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "castles in the air"
      },
      "expansion": "castle in the air (plural castles in the air)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "hyphenation": [
    "cas‧tle"
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English countable nouns",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
        "English idioms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English nouns",
        "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
        "English terms with audio links",
        "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Hebrew terms with redundant script codes",
        "Mandarin terms with redundant transliterations",
        "en:Fictional locations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1696, John Vanbrugh, The Relapse; or, Virtue in Danger. […] (Bell’s British Theatre; XXVI), London: Printed for the proprietors, under the Direction of John Bell, […], published 1795, →OCLC, act III, scene ii, page 72",
          "text": "Look you, Amanda, you may build castles in the air, \"and fume, and fret, and grow thin and lean, and pale and ugly, if you please.\" But I tell you, no man worth having is true to his wife, or can be true to his wife, or ever was, or will be so.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2013 December 18, Kenneth Khulekani Khoza, Castles in the Air, [Bloomington, Ind.]: Xlibris, act I, scene i, page 21",
          "text": "We used to build castles in the air. We had big dreams. I'm not sure if you still have those dreams, but I still have dreams.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A desire, idea, or plan that is unlikely to ever be realized; a visionary project or scheme; a daydream, an idle fancy, a near impossibility."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "desire",
          "desire#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "idea",
          "idea"
        ],
        [
          "plan",
          "plan#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "realize",
          "realize"
        ],
        [
          "visionary",
          "visionary"
        ],
        [
          "project",
          "project#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "scheme",
          "scheme#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "daydream",
          "daydream#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "idle",
          "idle"
        ],
        [
          "fancy",
          "fancy#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "near",
          "near"
        ],
        [
          "impossibility",
          "impossibility"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) A desire, idea, or plan that is unlikely to ever be realized; a visionary project or scheme; a daydream, an idle fancy, a near impossibility."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "air castle"
        },
        {
          "word": "castles in Spain"
        },
        {
          "word": "castle in the skies"
        },
        {
          "word": "eggs in moonshine"
        },
        {
          "word": "jam tomorrow"
        },
        {
          "word": "pie in the sky"
        },
        {
          "word": "pipe dream"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈkɑːs(ə)l ɪn ðiː ˈɛə/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈkæs(ə)l ɪn ði ˈɛəɹ/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-au-castle in the air.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/3/36/En-au-castle_in_the_air.ogg/En-au-castle_in_the_air.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/36/En-au-castle_in_the_air.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "sq",
      "lang": "Albanian",
      "sense": "desire, idea, or plan unlikely to ever be realized",
      "word": "kështjella në erë"
    },
    {
      "code": "sq",
      "lang": "Albanian",
      "sense": "desire, idea, or plan unlikely to ever be realized",
      "word": "ëndrra në diell"
    },
    {
      "code": "ca",
      "lang": "Catalan",
      "sense": "desire, idea, or plan unlikely to ever be realized",
      "tags": [
        "masculine",
        "plural"
      ],
      "word": "castells en l'aire"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "sense": "desire, idea, or plan unlikely to ever be realized",
      "word": "空中樓閣"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "kōngzhōnglóugé",
      "sense": "desire, idea, or plan unlikely to ever be realized",
      "word": "空中楼阁"
    },
    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "sense": "desire, idea, or plan unlikely to ever be realized",
      "tags": [
        "masculine",
        "plural"
      ],
      "word": "vzdušné zámky"
    },
    {
      "code": "da",
      "lang": "Danish",
      "sense": "desire, idea, or plan unlikely to ever be realized",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "luftkastel"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "desire, idea, or plan unlikely to ever be realized",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "luchtkasteel"
    },
    {
      "code": "eo",
      "lang": "Esperanto",
      "sense": "desire, idea, or plan unlikely to ever be realized",
      "word": "aerkastelo"
    },
    {
      "code": "eo",
      "lang": "Esperanto",
      "sense": "desire, idea, or plan unlikely to ever be realized",
      "word": "ĥimero"
    },
    {
      "code": "fo",
      "lang": "Faroese",
      "sense": "desire, idea, or plan unlikely to ever be realized",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "harraborg"
    },
    {
      "code": "fo",
      "lang": "Faroese",
      "sense": "desire, idea, or plan unlikely to ever be realized",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "skýborg"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "desire, idea, or plan unlikely to ever be realized",
      "word": "tuulentupa"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "desire, idea, or plan unlikely to ever be realized",
      "word": "pilvilinna"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "desire, idea, or plan unlikely to ever be realized",
      "tags": [
        "masculine",
        "plural"
      ],
      "word": "châteaux en Espagne"
    },
    {
      "code": "gl",
      "lang": "Galician",
      "sense": "desire, idea, or plan unlikely to ever be realized",
      "word": "castelos no ar"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "desire, idea, or plan unlikely to ever be realized",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "Luftschloss"
    },
    {
      "code": "he",
      "lang": "Hebrew",
      "roman": "migdál poréaḥ baAvír",
      "sense": "desire, idea, or plan unlikely to ever be realized",
      "word": "מִגְדָּל פּוֹרֵחַ בָּאֲוִיר"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "desire, idea, or plan unlikely to ever be realized",
      "word": "légvár"
    },
    {
      "code": "mi",
      "lang": "Maori",
      "sense": "desire, idea, or plan unlikely to ever be realized",
      "word": "waitara"
    },
    {
      "code": "nb",
      "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
      "sense": "desire, idea, or plan unlikely to ever be realized",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "luftslott"
    },
    {
      "code": "nn",
      "lang": "Norwegian Nynorsk",
      "sense": "desire, idea, or plan unlikely to ever be realized",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "luftslott"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "desire, idea, or plan unlikely to ever be realized",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "castelo de vento"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "desire, idea, or plan unlikely to ever be realized",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "castelo no ar"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "vozdúšnyj zámok",
      "sense": "desire, idea, or plan unlikely to ever be realized",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "возду́шный за́мок"
    },
    {
      "code": "sh",
      "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
      "sense": "desire, idea, or plan unlikely to ever be realized",
      "tags": [
        "Cyrillic",
        "feminine",
        "plural"
      ],
      "word": "куле у зраку"
    },
    {
      "code": "sh",
      "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
      "sense": "desire, idea, or plan unlikely to ever be realized",
      "tags": [
        "Roman",
        "feminine",
        "plural"
      ],
      "word": "kule u zraku"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "desire, idea, or plan unlikely to ever be realized",
      "tags": [
        "masculine",
        "plural"
      ],
      "word": "castillos en el aire"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "desire, idea, or plan unlikely to ever be realized",
      "tags": [
        "masculine",
        "plural"
      ],
      "word": "castillos de naipes"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "desire, idea, or plan unlikely to ever be realized",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "luftslott"
    }
  ],
  "word": "castle in the air"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-03 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.