Dictionary

build castles in the air en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio

Etymology

The first term dates from the late 1500s. A variant, castles in Spain (or châteaux en Espagne), was recorded in the Roman de la Rose in the 13th century and translated into English around 1365.

Meanings

1. (idiomatic, transitive) To have any desire, idea, or plan that is unlikely to be realized; to imagine visionary projects or schemes; to have an idle fancy or a pipe dream; to daydream.
   • 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. 1696, John Vanbrugh, “The Relapse; or, Virtue in Danger. […]”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), London: Printed for the proprietors, under the Direction of John Bell, […], published 1795, →OCLC, act III, scene ii, page 72:
   • Labor and you build castles in the air. Vote Conservative and you can live in them. 1962, David Frost, That Was the Week that Was:
   • If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them. 1854 August 9, Henry D[avid] Thoreau, “Conclusion”, in Walden; or, Life in the Woods, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, →OCLC, page 346:

Forms

Relateds

castle in the air

Translations (30)

pa ਖਿਆਲੀ ਪੁਲਾਉ ਪਕਾਉਣਾ (to have any desire, idea, or plan unlikely to be realized) · it fare castelli in aria (to have any desire, idea, or plan unlikely to be realized) · es forjar castillos en el aire (to have any desire, idea, or plan unlikely to be realized) · cs stavět si vzdušné zámky (to have any desire, idea, or plan unlikely to be realized) · br sevel kestell el loar (to have any desire, idea, or plan unlikely to be realized) · et õhulosse ehitama (to have any desire, idea, or plan unlikely to be realized) · nb bygge luftslott (to have any desire, idea, or plan unlikely to be realized) · ca fer castells a l'aire (to have any desire, idea, or plan unlikely to be realized) · eo konstrui kastelojn en aero (to have any desire, idea, or plan unlikely to be realized) · es hacer castillos de naipes (to have any desire, idea, or plan unlikely to be realized) · de Schlösser in die Luft bauen (to have any desire, idea, or plan unlikely to be realized) · nl luchtkastelen bouwen (to have any desire, idea, or plan unlikely to be realized) · ast facer almanaques (to have any desire, idea, or plan unlikely to be realized) · sv bygga luftslott (to have any desire, idea, or plan unlikely to be realized) · pl budować zamki na lodzie (to have any desire, idea, or plan unlikely to be realized) · fi rakennella pilvilinnoja (to have any desire, idea, or plan unlikely to be realized) · es hacer castillos en el aire (to have any desire, idea, or plan unlikely to be realized) · hu légvárakat épít (to have any desire, idea, or plan unlikely to be realized) · sh градити куле у зраку (to have any desire, idea, or plan unlikely to be realized) · ru стро́ить возду́шные за́мки (to have any desire, idea, or plan unlikely to be realized) · pt fazer castelos no ar (to have any desire, idea, or plan unlikely to be realized) · he בנה מגדלים באוויר (to have any desire, idea, or plan unlikely to be realized) · fr bâtir des châteaux en Espagne (to have any desire, idea, or plan unlikely to be realized) · nn byggje luftslott (to have any desire, idea, or plan unlikely to be realized) · sh graditi kule u zraku (to have any desire, idea, or plan unlikely to be realized) · fr bâtir des plans sur la comète (to have any desire, idea, or plan unlikely to be realized) · de Luftschlösser bauen (to have any desire, idea, or plan unlikely to be realized) · da bygge luftkasteller (to have any desire, idea, or plan unlikely to be realized) · fr tirer des plans sur la comète (to have any desire, idea, or plan unlikely to be realized) · es levantar castillos en el aire (to have any desire, idea, or plan unlikely to be realized)