mirage

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As the heat of the sun's rays quivers over the burning sands, a curious sight called a mirage is often produced.

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Definitions (7)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. noun 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. noun Something illusory or insubstantial.

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Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

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Examples (50)

  • "It's almost like a mirage, it's there but not there," Supervisor Mary Jane Griego said. —  www.appeal-democrat.com - News :
  • If the arena seems like a mirage, it'll be harder for them to sign on the bottom line. —  Atlantic Yards Report
  • Liquidity was a mirage, and the intention to sell was suspect at best. —  Minyanville
  • We hide our shame that we eagerly entered the desert to live in the mirage, and hide our own idiocy behind a curtain of anger at the people who duped us. —  Ace of Spades HQ
  • Doubters in the industry have suggested that CareerBuilder's "bundle" is something of a mirage, as the value of the print side dissipates. —  Local Onliner
 

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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

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Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

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

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. from French mirage (= Portuguese miragem = Italian miragio), from mirer, from Middle Latin mirare, look at: see mirror.
 

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/mɪˈrɑzh/
by American Heritage

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