wisp

Related to wisp: Will-o-wisp

will-o'-the-wisp

1. A unrealistic, unattainable, or delusional hope or goal. The mobile phone market has proven a will-o'-the-wisp for the giant tech company, despite the huge amount of resources they've poured into staking their claim in it. As we've seen time and time again, attempting to change or repeal the amendment will forever be a will-o'-the-wisp.
2. A person or thing that is or seems to be fleeting, intangible, or illusory. The president's stance on the issue has been something of a will-o'-the wisp, seeming to change or disappear entirely as the political climate dictates. The linebacker has been a will-o'-the-wisp all evening, appearing seemingly out of nowhere to deliver bone-rattling tackles.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

will o' the wisp

An unattainable goal. Will o' the wisp is one of the names of the marsh gas phenomenon that causes lights suddenly to appear and disappear over swampy ground (ignis fatuus is another term). Trying to catch a will o' the wisp is impossible, much like trying to catch lightning in a bottle, and so the phrase came to mean anything that can't be done.
See also: will, wisp
Endangered Phrases by Steven D. Price
See also:
  • will o' the wisp
  • will-o'-the-wisp
  • want (one's) head examined
  • need (one's) head tested
  • need your head examined
  • need, want, etc. your head examined
  • need (one's) head examined
  • be in a dream world
  • be living in a fool's paradise
  • live in a fool's paradise
References in periodicals archive
After a nine-month selection period, the agency has chosen as its Wisp partner a consortium led by Babcock & Brown, a global investment firm, and including Cowlin Construction and architects Holder Mathias and TACP.
WDA lease deal fosters quality office projects
WISP offers WISP NOMAD software to corporations, individuals and ISP providers.
WISP DEBUTS SOFTWARE TO ELIMINATE ROAMING CHARGES
Fisher said it will be interesting to see if breached entities start reporting that they either didn't have a WISP or didn't comply with a program that was in place.
New data breach law raises stakes
He said that Mithrao Canal used to be a dysfunctional canal but after works under the WISP, at least 30 distributaries of the canal got water flows after 10 years, which was in fact a success story of this project.
Sida puts off farmers' complaints about sill levels till full supplies in canals
In fact, WISP operators are already reaping these benefits by deploying two current 4 x 4 radios with a single 8x8 sector.
WISPs Gear Up to Meet Demands of Densification: Rural broadband service needs drive wireless providers to beef up networks
Wisp can be controlled by voice using Amazon Alexa or Google Home, or from a smartphone app.
Bud Marx, Former Ford Motor Company Vice President, Joins iGlass Technology Board of Directors
While HIPAA does not specify risk management steps, its requirements are, like cybersecurity requirements, well-suited to being fulfilled through the use of a WISP.
Embracing Compliance for the Sake of Cybersecurity: Looking Beyond Legal Requirements to Find Best Practices
As further relief for small businesses, WISP requirements consider the licensee's size and complexity, the nature and scope of its activities, and the sensitivity of its information.
A Cresting Wave: State cybersecurity requirements for insurers and producers will follow the lead of the NAIC and the N.Y. Department of Financial Services
Until now, virtually nothing was known about the political and ideological factors in the production of Will-O'-the Wisp. This article contains the first rigorous analysis of the vicissitudes of Top-Hit Girl and Will-O'-the Wisp and sheds new light on Buyens's almost legendary reputation as a stubborn and uncompromising filmmaker.
The Suppression of Satirizing Belgian Community Difficulties in Flemish Cinema and the Film Adaptation of Will-O'-the Wisp
The portable Wide-area Infrared System for Persistent Surveillance (WISP) sensor system detects all moving objects at long range in the ground or air, and marks the objects on a continuously updating real-time display.
Long-Range Sensor System
This is the power of WISP, a breakthrough protocol that couldn't have come any sooner to rid us off our wireless woes!
WISP is about to disrupt the wireless mobile communication, here's how
The WISP project grew out of an Intel Labs project nearly 10 years ago.
New Microcontroller Runs on Radio Waves, Can Be Reprogrammed in Field
Part of a proactive approach to data risk management is the creation of a written information security plan (WISP), a document that outlines data security methodologies for the organization and gives users insight into their role in data protection.
Managing data protection in higher education
Watching over her from birth is Wisp, a disgraced dragon from the Verge and Jenn's invisible childhood friend.
Czerneda, Julie E. A Turn of Light