flight of fancy

flight of fancy

An imaginative but unrealistic idea. No one took his campaign for office seriously because his proposed solutions to problems were filled with flights of fancy.
See also: fancy, flight, of
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

flight of fancy

an idea or suggestion that is out of touch with reality or possibility. What is the point in indulging in flights of fancy about exotic vacations when you cannot even afford the rent?
See also: fancy, flight, of
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

flight of fancy

An unrealistic idea or fantastic notion, a pipe dream. For example, She engaged in flights of fancy, such as owning a million-dollar house. This idiom uses flight in the sense of "a soaring of the imagination," a usage dating from the mid-1600s.
See also: fancy, flight, of
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

a flight of fancy

or

a flight of fantasy

COMMON If you call an idea, statement, or plan a flight of fancy or a flight of fantasy, you mean that it is imaginative but not at all practical. This is no flight of fancy. The prototype is already flying, and production is to begin next year. The idea that you could use these satellites as weapons is a complete flight of fantasy.
See also: fancy, flight, of
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.

a ˌflight of ˈfancy

an idea or a statement that is very imaginative but not practical or sensible: The idea is not just a flight of fancy. It has been done before.
See also: fancy, flight, of
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

flight of fancy

An imaginative but impractical idea. This cliché uses flight in the sense of a soaring imagination, a usage first recorded in 1668. Given this sense, fancy, meaning imagination, makes the phrase somewhat redundant, and it is not clear exactly when it was added. Oliver Goldsmith had the idea, if not the exact wording, in his poem “The Traveller” (1764): “To men of other minds my fancy flies.”
See also: fancy, flight, of
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
See also:
  • flight of fantasy
  • flight of imagination
  • a flight of fancy
  • be in a dream world
  • Yankee ingenuity
  • that cat won't jump
  • run away with the idea
  • run away with the idea/notion
  • run away with the notion
  • someone's only got one pair of hands
References in periodicals archive
My flight of fancy arrived with a slither of preserved ginger and a lump of Yellow Man.
Gin the mood for one ale of a time; DRINK
This flight of fancy from Cllr Trickett is more about Birmingham city council thrashing around for extra moneyJulian Knight MP
'Drive to our city?Then contribute to our parks' Call for rest of region to stump up for care of green spaces
For a church that stands for Catholic practice, however, where the way we do things reflects the substance of what we believe, one would only hope that this is nothing more than a passing flight of fancy.
What next?
This may seem like a poetic flight of fancy but the meaning is far deeper than asking if you live your own life.
thought for the day
Blazis also finished second for best article ("Woodcock's flight of fancy") and best humor piece ("Eating crow can be a good thing"), and third for best column ("Oh deer!
Columnist receives honor
VIP Lady Gaga's flight of fancy: PAGES 12&13 Did you win?
Inside THE PEOPLE
While the door-less, roof-less SUV is a flight of fancy the basic platform is shared with the Clubman and the Beachcomber can run the regular Mini's range of petrol and diesel engines while four-wheel-drive is a possibility.
LIFE'S A BEACH FOR BMW
Addressing recent reports that the camps provide fertile grounds for fanatics amid fears of fresh terrorist attacks, Abul Einein said, "I think speaking about the dangers of fanatic or evil groups in the camps is a flight of fancy. Perhaps there are some people (extremists) with some (terrorist) ideas, but no one dares assume that the camps are a safe haven for carrying out any security attacks that affect our social, political, and security stability and Lebanon's civil accord and stability." Abul Einein, who has stressed in recent days that there is no al-Qaeda presence in the camps, added, "No one or no group can think of carrying out an operation that would worry the Palestinians before the Lebanese."
Lebanon-Palestinians
DASHING Ewan McGregor has a flight of fancy as he romances Hilary Swank in his latest film.
Ewan's high flying affair
Peter Pfeiffer, head of Mercedes car design, is particularly keen on the taut lines and cleanliness of the design, adding the Ocean Drive is more than just a flight of fancy: "We can never stand still but must keep thinking further and further ahead." Guess that means Mercedes will take on more Maybach cues ...
Mercedes-Benz concept Ocean Drive
Even if the chair never makes it into production, Cole's flight of fancy and the love that propelled prove he's a rare pal indeed.
A rare friend
In his one rhetorical flight of fancy, Gaddis writes a spoof section that begins by declaring, deadpan, that Douglas MacArthur ordered atomic bombs dropped on the Chinese army as it began to rout the general's soldiers during the Korean War.
How we won: John Lewis Gaddis's new history of the Cold War should be next on the president's reading list
In a final flight of fancy, at the end of the book Holden fantasises on various eccentrics meeting each other across the generations and plumps for his favourite: a mythical meeting between Percy Grainger, the self-confessed flagellate and Lola Montez of whip wielding fame!
Robert Holden, Crackpots, Ratbags and Rebels: A Swag of Aussie Eccentrics
Set in New South Wales, Australia in the mid-1800s, this flight of fancy features Miles McGinty and Isabel Dowling, whose unconventional beginnings in the Prince of Wales Theatre mark the beginning of a series of parallel and joint adventures.
Gilling, Tom. The adventures of Miles and Isabel
WITH regard to the article `City's flight of fancy for the future' (Echo, April 9).
VIEWPOINTS: Cardiff City wasn`t named