fool's paradise

a fool's paradise

A happy state that one inhabits for foolish, unfounded, or delusional reasons. We were living in a fool's paradise thinking that the financial successes of the early 2000s would last forever.
See also: paradise
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

fool's paradise

Fig. a state of being happy for foolish or unfounded reasons. I'm afraid that Sue's marital happiness is a fool's paradise; there are rumors that her husband is unfaithful. Fred is confident that he'll get a big raise this year, but I think he's living in a fool's paradise.
See also: paradise
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

fool's paradise

State of delusive contentment or false hope. For example, Joan lived in a fool's paradise, looking forward to a promotion she would never get. This expression was first recorded in 1462.
See also: paradise
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

fool's paradise, a

Bliss based on illusion, ignorance, or misunderstanding. The expression dates from the fifteenth century, when it appeared in print in William Paston’s letters (1462: “I wold not be in a folis paradyce”). It recurs again and again, in numerous sixteenth-century sources (including Pettie, Lyly, and Shakespeare), and was certainly a cliché by the time George Bernard Shaw wrote, “Beguiling tedious hours with romances and fairy tales and fools’ paradises” (Misalliance, 1910).
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
See also:
  • a fool's paradise
  • fool's paradise, a
  • paradise
  • live in a fool's paradise
  • be living in a fool's paradise
  • fool and his money are soon parted
  • fool and his money are soon parted, a
  • a fool and his money are soon parted
  • parted
  • get one's head examined
References in periodicals archive
A* Fool's Paradise, Durham Castle (West facade of Castle, viewed from North Road or Framwellgate Bridge)
Europe has also been living in a fool's paradise by allowing itself to become too dependent on Russia for energy.
Espousing resistance to the Indian " occupation", Salahuddin said those believing in dialogue process were living in a fool's paradise.
Try living in fool's paradise thanks to Michael Kilkie's easy recipe for a classic fruit dessert with mango and lime.
IF anyone on the board or part of the management team believe Newcastle United can do without finding a replacement for Demba Ba when he goes to the African Nations Cup, then they are living in a fool's paradise.
HEADCAT - Walk The Walk, Talk The Talk VERDICT:MOTORHEAD'S Lemmy has again teamed up with Stray Cats drummer Slim Jim Phantom and Danny B Harvey from Lonesome Spurs and The Rockats for an album of rockabilly standards, the follow-up to 2006's Fool's Paradise. They still appear to be having the time of their lives, tearing through the likes of Shaking All Over, Something Else and Let It Rock, Lemmy's bourbon-soaked vocals complemented by Jim's frenetic drumming and Danny's chiming guitar.
"One of the problems we have got in trying to move to a new system is that we have been living in a fool's paradise" - Bank of England governor Mervyn King on the future of banking.
One bad man might have lived to fight another day, but elsewhere methinks Molly's living in a fool's paradise if she thinks she's kidding anyone about her extramarital jumpstarts with mechanic Kev.
Is their religion a fool's paradise or do Spiritualists have access to a world that most of us prefer not to contemplate: the world of the afterlife?
Fool's paradise; the strange world of pop psychology.
If we think southern decision-makers will happily give us our share of forest- and mining-related research facilities, we are living in a fool's paradise. Southern medical schools tried to block NOSM and southern universities are tenaciously opposed to concentrating forestry and mining research and training in the North where it belongs.
Those metrics run the risk of trapping leaders in a fool's paradise. They move marketing only a step or two beyond the traditional emphasis on making--and then obsessively counting--"impressions" through advertising.
FOOL'S PARADISE: THE UNREAL WORLD OF POP PSYCHOLOGY considers the evolution and influence of pop psychology in society, examining the rhetoric of self-help, its systems of support, and its illusions.
Do high grades encourage them to do better than they otherwise would do, or do such students do worse because they live in a fool's paradise, ignorant of their true capacities?
The meeting will be held at Fool's Paradise Teahouse, 460 Willamette St., Eugene.