Meaning & use

mirage

noun·Academic

An optical illusion, often of water or distant objects, caused by the bending of light in hot air.

See it in a sentence

The exhausted travelers thought they saw a lake, but it was only a desert mirage.

The promise of easy money turned out to be nothing more than a mirage.

A note on using this word

Mirage is often used figuratively for a hope or goal that seems real but proves impossible to reach.

Words with a similar meaning

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Words with an opposite meaning

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