Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A place or attitude of retreat, especially preoccupation with lofty, remote, or intellectual considerations rather than practical everyday life.
Wiktionary
- n. idiomatic A sheltered, overly-academic existence or perspective, implying a disconnection or lack of awareness of reality or practical considerations.
- adj. Seperated from reality and practical matters; overly academic.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a state of mind that is discussed as if it were a place
Etymologies
- 1911, calque of French figurative use, based on literal biblical phrase. (Wiktionary)
- Translation of French tour d'ivoire : tour, tower + de, of + ivoire, ivory. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Langer isn’t just an ivory tower academic-he holds more than five hundred patents, and his research has led to everything from the development of the nicotine patch to brain cancer treatments.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘ivory tower’.
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Take five
Two-word phrases composed of five-letter words. There are a couple with three words (great white shark), but I stuck those on Triads 3.
belly laugh, bench press, bette davis, black angus, blank check, booby hatch, brain coral, bronx cheer, brown dwarf, buddy holly, burnt umber, cabin fever and 195 more...
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Words related to knowledge
Words that relate to learning, knowing, being enlightened...
revelation, eureka, awakening, idea, sapient, astute, canny, intelligent, wise, sharp, shrewd, informed and 467 more...
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Ideas
brainchild, inspiration, muse, genius, eureka, discovery, intellectual prop..., intangible asset, goodwill, patented, savant, brainiac and 76 more...
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dyy's Words
ambivalence, irony, double-edged sword, paradox, struggle, plunge, buoy, pigeon-hole, ultimately, status quo, fuel, undermine and 230 more...
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vmarinelli's Words
canard, gumption, inexorable, insouciance, inviolable, mordant, euphonious, sawbuck, carpe diem, pay dirt, adipocere, profligate and 496 more...
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A Long, Strange Trip
You'll definitely need a map. Inspired by Son of Groucho's comment on Islets of Langerhans.
slough of despond, pit of despair, den of iniquity, islets of langerhans, hippocampus, boulevard of brok..., canals of hering, hesselbach's tria..., crypts of lieberkühn, angle of louis, circle of willis, traube's space and 102 more...
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INTERP - VOCABULARY
The vocabulary of conference interpreting. I commend this list to those who want to know more about the profession and to those who wish to organize their knowledge about the profession. To aspirin...
retour language, A-language, B-language, C-language, relay language, take sy on relay, language booth, booth meeting, mic, mike, mission, freelance interpr... and 2086 more...
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chromatic phrases
blue movie, brown study, purple prose, rosy scenario, golden mean, eminence grise, white nights, bronze age, silver bullet, orange juice, black death, technicolor yawn and 188 more...
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Expressions
ad hoc, de facto, ego trip, tour de force, quod erat demonst..., deus ex machina, coup de grâce, know-how, under the weather, fait accompli, one and the same, cargo cult and 3 more...
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Idioms
Faux pas, Fait accompli, Laissez-faire, Ménage à trois, Par excellence, Vis-à-vis, À la carte, À la mode, Au contraire, Carte blanche, Cinéma vérité, Crème de la crème and 55 more...
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Administrative
extension, gauge, accessible, trench, fable, context, shortly, yogic, circling, construe, iconoclasm, domestic and 20 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for ivory tower.
whichbe How many elephant (Republican) tusks does it take to make one Ivory Tower (elitist)? Oct 10, 2008