Meaning & use
never-never land
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Meanings
nounsingular
An imaginary, perfect-seeming place or state of mind that cannot exist in real life.
Grammar: Used in the singular with no article or with a: living in never-never land.
Patterns
- live in never-never land
- a never-never land of something
If you think the project will finish in a week, you are living in never-never land.
The advertisement describes a never-never land where nobody ever gets old.
He spent his twenties in a never-never land of endless parties.
nounsingular
A state of dreamlike fantasy or avoiding adult responsibility, as in the island of the Peter Pan stories.
Grammar: Often written with capitals when it refers to the story: Never Never Land.
Patterns
- escape to never-never land
The theme park is meant to feel like a never-never land for children.
Some people treat retirement as a never-never land with no obligations.
Common combinations
- live in never-never land
- Anyone who expects cheap housing here is living in never-never land.
- drift off into never-never land
- During the dull lecture, he drifted off into never-never land.
- a never-never land of promises
- The campaign offered a never-never land of promises.
- back from never-never land
- She came back from never-never land when the phone rang.
- never-never land economics
- Critics called the plan never-never land economics.
Synonyms and how they differ
- cloud-cuckoo-land
- Cloud-cuckoo-land is a stronger, more mocking phrase for foolish unrealistic thinking, mostly British.
- fantasy world
- Fantasy world is plain and descriptive, while never-never land carries a playful or fairy-tale flavor.
- utopia
- Utopia names a perfect society planned or imagined, but never-never land stresses that it is unreal.
- dreamland
- Dreamland suggests a pleasant sleepy state, while never-never land points to unrealistic hopes.
Opposites
Word family
- Neverland proper noun
- the island in Peter Pan where children never grow up
Commonly confused: never-never land or the never-never?
never-never land vs the never-never
In British English, the never-never is an old informal expression for buying goods on credit, which is unrelated to a fantasy land.
Practice
Hoping to retire at thirty with no savings is just living in ______.
Choose one answer.
Never-never land describes unrealistic hopes. The other options are literal and do not express unrealistic thinking.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “never-never land”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.