mirage
noun
- naturally occurring optical phenomenon
- Something false or superficial
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /mɪˈɹɑːʒ/ / /mɪˈɹaʒ/ / /mɪˈɹɑːd͡ʒ/
noun
Etymology: An unadapted borrowing from French mirage c. 1812.
- An optical phenomenon in which light is refracted through a layer of hot air close to the ground, often giving the illusion of a body of water.
- An illusion.
“I remember hearing, that in the East the clear and azure waters seem to flow before the weary and parched traveller; yet a little further, and on he urges his weary way, but in vain—the fair stream is a delusion. Even thus happiness is the mirage which leads us over the desert of life, ever fated to end in deceit and disappointment.”
verb
Etymology: An unadapted borrowing from French mirage c. 1812.
- To cause to appear as or like a mirage.
“All that had been in his mind seemed suddenly miraged before him—the removal of Hunterleys, his own wife's failing health.”
“The vision of a salon was miraged before her, with herself in the middle deftly manipulating the destinies of a nation.”