See pie-in-the-sky in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
{
"etymology_text": "From the noun pie in the sky.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "more pie-in-the-sky",
"tags": [
"comparative"
]
},
{
"form": "most pie-in-the-sky",
"tags": [
"superlative"
]
},
{
"form": "pie in the sky",
"tags": [
"alternative"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "pie-in-the-sky (comparative more pie-in-the-sky, superlative most pie-in-the-sky)",
"name": "en-adj"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "adj",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [],
"examples": [
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
2,
16
]
],
"text": "a pie-in-the-sky patent",
"type": "example"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Lacking reality and serviceability."
],
"id": "en-pie-in-the-sky-en-adj-E~x8IP7o",
"links": [
[
"Lacking",
"lack#Verb"
],
[
"reality",
"reality"
],
[
"serviceability",
"serviceability"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic) Lacking reality and serviceability."
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic"
],
"translations": [
{
"_dis1": "96 4",
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"sense": "lacking reality",
"word": "不切實際的 /不切实际的"
},
{
"_dis1": "96 4",
"code": "ja",
"lang": "Japanese",
"roman": "e ni kaita mochi no",
"sense": "lacking reality",
"word": "絵に描いた餅の"
},
{
"_dis1": "96 4",
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "lacking reality",
"word": "nierealny"
}
]
},
{
"categories": [
{
"_dis": "18 82",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "12 88",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Entries with translation boxes",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "11 89",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Pages with 1 entry",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "10 90",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Pages with entries",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "15 85",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with French translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "20 80",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Japanese translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "15 85",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Mandarin translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "20 80",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Polish translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
49,
63
]
],
"ref": "2000 September 10, Maggie Farley, John J. Goldman, “U.N. Crafts Plan to Change World”, in Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, Calif.: Los Angeles Times Communications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2025-06-05:",
"text": "“Halving poverty in 15 years seems like the most pie-in-the-sky goal imaginable,” said Mark Malloch Brown, head of the U.N. Development Program. “But it’s really quite doable. And the people who can do it are right here.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
219,
233
]
],
"ref": "2010 April 8, Nick Bilton, “At French Conference, Virtual Reality Meets Reality”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2025-03-22:",
"text": "There are also several augmented reality tools, meant for advertising and teaching, and some futuristic surreal experiences that remind me of scenes from Star Trek’s holodeck. Some of the virtual reality demos are very pie-in-the-sky and probably won’t see the real world for some years to come; others are just a few years away.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
473,
487
]
],
"ref": "2014 April 22, Mary Catherine O’Connor, “Reimagining growth: a new approach to business success”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2014-04-22:",
"text": "Hence the trend in many C-suites to shift the conversation away from an imagined trade-off between profits and planet, and towards a discussion about mutual benefit. The key word reverberating around the boardrooms of the world's most progressive companies is 'value' – value for business in the shape of profits, and value for everyone else in the form of a more socially just, more equitable, more environmentally friendly world in which to live. If that sounds all very pie-in-the-sky, then think again. Take B Lab. A US-based certification provider, B Lab has accredited nearly 1,000 companies that publicly commit to \"harness the power of business to create public benefit … for all stakeholders, not just shareholders\". This isn't whimsical stuff.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
118,
132
]
],
"ref": "2017 March 1, Anthony Zurcher, “Trump addresses Congress: A kinder, gentler president”, in BBC News, archived from the original on 2017-06-05:",
"text": "If his [Donald Trump's] detailing was productive, it was somewhat undermined by a final, typical Trumpian flourish of pie-in-the-sky rhetoric.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
52,
66
]
],
"ref": "2019 December 4, Nigel Harris, “Comment: Williams or Nationalisation?”, in Rail, page 3:",
"text": "In other words, the usual mix of sound thinking and pie-in-the-sky electioneering promises which convince no one.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
46,
60
]
],
"ref": "2024 April 18, Callum Jones, quoting Michael Nathanson, “Netflix profits surge as streaming service adds 9.3m subscribers in latest quarter”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:",
"text": "“That said, we continue to remain cautious of pie-in-the-sky forecasts that see this hockey stick continuing indefinitely,” Nathanson added[…].",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Of a dream unlikely to ever come true; impractical, unrealizable."
],
"id": "en-pie-in-the-sky-en-adj-UEI8udMZ",
"links": [
[
"dream",
"dream#Noun"
],
[
"impractical",
"impractical"
],
[
"unrealizable",
"unrealizable"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic) Of a dream unlikely to ever come true; impractical, unrealizable."
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic"
],
"translations": [
{
"_dis1": "2 98",
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "of a dream unlikely to ever come true",
"word": "utopique"
},
{
"_dis1": "2 98",
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "of a dream unlikely to ever come true",
"word": "illusoire"
},
{
"_dis1": "2 98",
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "of a dream unlikely to ever come true",
"word": "utopijny"
}
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˈpaɪ n̩ ðə ˈskaɪ/",
"tags": [
"General-American",
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
{
"audio": "En-au-pie-in-the-sky.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/4/4c/En-au-pie-in-the-sky.ogg/En-au-pie-in-the-sky.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/En-au-pie-in-the-sky.ogg"
},
{
"rhymes": "-aɪ"
}
],
"word": "pie-in-the-sky"
}
{
"categories": [
"English adjectives",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English lemmas",
"English multiword terms",
"Entries with translation boxes",
"Pages with 1 entry",
"Pages with entries",
"Rhymes:English/aɪ",
"Terms with French translations",
"Terms with Japanese translations",
"Terms with Mandarin translations",
"Terms with Polish translations"
],
"etymology_text": "From the noun pie in the sky.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "more pie-in-the-sky",
"tags": [
"comparative"
]
},
{
"form": "most pie-in-the-sky",
"tags": [
"superlative"
]
},
{
"form": "pie in the sky",
"tags": [
"alternative"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "pie-in-the-sky (comparative more pie-in-the-sky, superlative most pie-in-the-sky)",
"name": "en-adj"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "adj",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English idioms",
"English terms with usage examples"
],
"examples": [
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
2,
16
]
],
"text": "a pie-in-the-sky patent",
"type": "example"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Lacking reality and serviceability."
],
"links": [
[
"Lacking",
"lack#Verb"
],
[
"reality",
"reality"
],
[
"serviceability",
"serviceability"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic) Lacking reality and serviceability."
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic"
]
},
{
"categories": [
"English idioms",
"English terms with quotations"
],
"examples": [
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
49,
63
]
],
"ref": "2000 September 10, Maggie Farley, John J. Goldman, “U.N. Crafts Plan to Change World”, in Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, Calif.: Los Angeles Times Communications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2025-06-05:",
"text": "“Halving poverty in 15 years seems like the most pie-in-the-sky goal imaginable,” said Mark Malloch Brown, head of the U.N. Development Program. “But it’s really quite doable. And the people who can do it are right here.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
219,
233
]
],
"ref": "2010 April 8, Nick Bilton, “At French Conference, Virtual Reality Meets Reality”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2025-03-22:",
"text": "There are also several augmented reality tools, meant for advertising and teaching, and some futuristic surreal experiences that remind me of scenes from Star Trek’s holodeck. Some of the virtual reality demos are very pie-in-the-sky and probably won’t see the real world for some years to come; others are just a few years away.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
473,
487
]
],
"ref": "2014 April 22, Mary Catherine O’Connor, “Reimagining growth: a new approach to business success”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2014-04-22:",
"text": "Hence the trend in many C-suites to shift the conversation away from an imagined trade-off between profits and planet, and towards a discussion about mutual benefit. The key word reverberating around the boardrooms of the world's most progressive companies is 'value' – value for business in the shape of profits, and value for everyone else in the form of a more socially just, more equitable, more environmentally friendly world in which to live. If that sounds all very pie-in-the-sky, then think again. Take B Lab. A US-based certification provider, B Lab has accredited nearly 1,000 companies that publicly commit to \"harness the power of business to create public benefit … for all stakeholders, not just shareholders\". This isn't whimsical stuff.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
118,
132
]
],
"ref": "2017 March 1, Anthony Zurcher, “Trump addresses Congress: A kinder, gentler president”, in BBC News, archived from the original on 2017-06-05:",
"text": "If his [Donald Trump's] detailing was productive, it was somewhat undermined by a final, typical Trumpian flourish of pie-in-the-sky rhetoric.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
52,
66
]
],
"ref": "2019 December 4, Nigel Harris, “Comment: Williams or Nationalisation?”, in Rail, page 3:",
"text": "In other words, the usual mix of sound thinking and pie-in-the-sky electioneering promises which convince no one.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
46,
60
]
],
"ref": "2024 April 18, Callum Jones, quoting Michael Nathanson, “Netflix profits surge as streaming service adds 9.3m subscribers in latest quarter”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:",
"text": "“That said, we continue to remain cautious of pie-in-the-sky forecasts that see this hockey stick continuing indefinitely,” Nathanson added[…].",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Of a dream unlikely to ever come true; impractical, unrealizable."
],
"links": [
[
"dream",
"dream#Noun"
],
[
"impractical",
"impractical"
],
[
"unrealizable",
"unrealizable"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic) Of a dream unlikely to ever come true; impractical, unrealizable."
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˈpaɪ n̩ ðə ˈskaɪ/",
"tags": [
"General-American",
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
{
"audio": "En-au-pie-in-the-sky.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/4/4c/En-au-pie-in-the-sky.ogg/En-au-pie-in-the-sky.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/En-au-pie-in-the-sky.ogg"
},
{
"rhymes": "-aɪ"
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"sense": "lacking reality",
"word": "不切實際的 /不切实际的"
},
{
"code": "ja",
"lang": "Japanese",
"roman": "e ni kaita mochi no",
"sense": "lacking reality",
"word": "絵に描いた餅の"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "lacking reality",
"word": "nierealny"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "of a dream unlikely to ever come true",
"word": "utopique"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "of a dream unlikely to ever come true",
"word": "illusoire"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "of a dream unlikely to ever come true",
"word": "utopijny"
}
],
"word": "pie-in-the-sky"
}
Download raw JSONL data for pie-in-the-sky meaning in English (5.8kB)
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-07-20 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-07-01 using wiktextract (45c4a21 and f1c2b61). 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.