mirage

(redirected from mirages)
Also found in: Thesaurus, Medical, Encyclopedia.

mi·rage

(mĭ-räzh′)

1. An optical phenomenon that creates the illusion of water, often with inverted reflections of distant objects, and results from distortion of light by alternate layers of hot and cool air. Also called fata morgana.

2. Something illusory or insubstantial.

[French, from mirer, to look at, from Latin mīrārī, to wonder at, from mīrus, wonderful; see smei- in Indo-European roots.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

mirage

(mɪˈrɑːʒ)

1. (General Physics) an image of a distant object or sheet of water, often inverted or distorted, caused by atmospheric refraction by hot air

2. something illusory

[C19: from French, from (se) mirer to be reflected]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

mi•rage

(mɪˈrɑʒ)

n.

1. an optical phenomenon, esp. in the desert or at sea, by which the image of an object appears displaced above, below, or to one side of its true position as a result of spatial variations of the index of refraction of air.

2. something illusory.

[1795–1805; < French, = (se) mir(er) to look at (oneself), be reflected + -age -age]

mi·rage

(mĭ-räzh′)

An optical illusion in which nonexistent bodies of water and upside-down reflections of objects appear in the distance. A mirage occurs when light is bent after entering a low layer of hot air at an angle.

The American Heritage® Student Science Dictionary, Second Edition. Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

mirage

- From French se mirer, "be reflected," from Latin mirare, "look at"—the same root used in mirror.

mirage

An optical illusion caused by the bending of light passing between air layers of differing density.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Noun	1.	$mirage - an optical illusion in which atmospheric refraction by a layer of hot air distorts or inverts reflections of distant objects$ mirage - an optical illusion in which atmospheric refraction by a layer of hot air distorts or inverts reflections of distant objects fata morgana - a mirage in the Strait of Messina (attributed to the Arthurian sorcerer Morgan le Fay) optical illusion - an optical phenomenon that results in a false or deceptive visual impression
	2.	mirage - something illusory and unattainable misconception - an incorrect conception

mirage

noun illusion, vision, hallucination, pipe dream, chimera, optical illusion, phantasm Through my half-closed eyelids I began to see mirages.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

mirage

noun

An erroneous perception of reality:

delusion, hallucination, ignis fatuus, illusion, phantasm, phantasma, will-o'-the-wisp.

Translations

سَراب

fata morgana

fata morganaluftspejling

kangastus

délibáb

hillingar, tíbrá

miraggio

miražas

mirāža

fata morgana hildring luftspeiling

fatamorgána

mirage

[ˈmɪrɑːʒ] N → espejismo m

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

mirage

[ˈmɪrɑːʒ] n → mirage m
to be a mirage (= an illusion) → être un mirage

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

mirage

n → Fata Morgana f, → Luftspiegelung f; (fig) → Trugbild nt, → Illusion f

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

mirage

[ˈmɪrɑːʒ] n → miraggio

mirage

(ˈmiraːʒ) , ((especially American) miˈra:ʒ) noun

an illusion of an area of water in the desert or on a road etc.

References in classic literature ?

All an appearance can know is mirage. You know mirages of desire.

View in context

Yes, far in the distance was an oasis...an oasis with limpid water, which reflected the iron trees!...Tush, it was the scene of the mirage....I recognized it at once...the worst of the three!...No one had been able to fight against it...no one.

View in context

That is a mirage, cheap mirage, revolting, romantic and fantastical--that's another ball on Lake Como.

View in context

Yet there has always been this essential difference between them, that while the Buddhist regards the senses as windows looking out upon unreality and mirage, to the Taoist they are doors through which the freed soul rushes to mingle with the colours and tones and contours of the universe.

View in context

Waste forces within him, and a desert all around, this man stood still on his way across a silent terrace, and saw for a moment, lying in the wilderness before him, a mirage of honourable ambition, self-denial, and perseverance.

View in context

"It is merely the effect of the MIRAGE," said the doctor, "and nothing else--a simple optical phenomenon due to the unequal refraction of light by different layers of the atmosphere, and that is all.

View in context

To you, with boundless wealth, there will be depths of happiness which you will never probe, joys which, if you have the wit to see them at all, will be no more than a mirage to you."

View in context

In such way had vanished as in the mirage of a dream, Meringe, Somo, and the Arangi.

View in context

To him his life--that cruel mirage of love and peace--seemed as real, as undeniable, as theirs would be to any saint, philosopher, or fool of us all.

View in context

At the same time he fervently hoped that General Sokolovitch and his family would fade away like a mirage in the desert, so that the visitors could escape, by merely returning downstairs.

View in context

It had been easy for me to gain a temporary effect by a mirage of baseless opinion; but it is ever the trial of the scrupulous explorer to be saluted with the impatient scorn of chatterers who attempt only the smallest achievements, being indeed equipped for no other.

View in context

And through the swaying, palpitant vision, as through a fairy mirage, he stared at the real woman, sitting there and talking of literature and art.