mirage
/ˈmɪrɑːʒ/ (bre, ipa) · /məˈrɑːʒ/ (ame, ipa) · /mə-ˈräzh/ (ame, mw)
mirage — noun
- miragesingular
- miragesplural
1. a false image that appears in hot places like deserts or long stretches of road,
a false image that appears in hot places like deserts or long stretches of road, where bent light makes you think distant water or objects are nearby when nothing is actually there.
Yael pointed at the shimmering water ahead, but Hugo said it was only a mirage.
typical scenario: shimmering 'water' on hot road
The thirsty hikers chased what looked like a lake across the sand, only to find another empty mirage.
collocation: chase a mirage in the desert
Heat from the engine produced a strange mirage above the truck's bonnet, blurring the trees behind it.
Lucía learned that a mirage forms when warm air bends light rays upward.
From the cockpit, Pim could see a wide silver mirage spreading across the runway in the afternoon sun.
- optical illusion
broader umbrella term; covers many tricks of vision, not only the heat-related desert image
- hallucination
involves the mind inventing what isn't there; mirage is real bent light, not a brain error
用法筆記
Countable; often preceded by 'a' and the indefinite reading is the norm. Common collocations are 'see a mirage', 'chase a mirage', and 'shimmer like a mirage'. The literal sense is what readers picture first; sense 2 is the figurative extension.
常見錯誤
2. a hope, goal, or imagined success that looks reachable from a distance but turns
a hope, goal, or imagined success that looks reachable from a distance but turns out to be impossible once you get closer to it.
For many young actors, fame in Hollywood turns out to be a mirage that disappears once the auditions begin.
abstract reference: hope of success that fades
Yasmin realised that the promised promotion was a mirage when the manager kept delaying her review.
pattern: X turns out to be a mirage
Cheap housing in the city centre is a mirage for most graduates; nothing affordable ever stays on the market.
Peace talks felt close last spring, but a year on, both sides agree it was only a mirage.
Ishaan chased the mirage of overnight wealth through three failed startups before settling into steady work.
- illusion
more general; any false belief, not specifically a hope that proved unreachable
- pipe dream
informal; emphasises unrealistic fantasy from the start, whereas a mirage often looks plausible at first
- fantasy
stronger sense of being purely imagined; mirage suggests something briefly appeared attainable
- reality
what is actually true and reachable
文法句型
mirage of + abstract noun
用法筆記
Countable; very often used as a metaphor with the literal sense in mind ('water that isn't really there'). Subject is typically an abstract goal: fame, wealth, peace, security. Distinguish from sense 1, where a real visual effect exists; here nothing is being seen, only imagined.