Mirage Meaning
/mɪˈɹɑːʒ/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounAn 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.
nounAn illusion.
Sentence Examples
A mirage sometimes shows up in Toyama Bay.
A mirage is said to be an illusion.
CEFR Practice Quiz
In the hot desert, the shimmering water on the road was actually a ____.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The thirsty traveler thought he saw a cool lake in the distance, but it was just a ____ caused by the intense desert heat.
Word Origin & History
An unadapted borrowing from French mirage c. 1812.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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."
— 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter VI, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 68:
"All that had been in his mind seemed suddenly miraged before him—the removal of Hunterleys, his own wife's failing health."
— 1915, E. Phillips Oppenheim, Mr. Grex of Monte Carlo:
"The vision of a salon was miraged before her, with herself in the middle deftly manipulating the destinies of a nation."
— 1901, A. E. W. Mason, Ensign Knightley and Other Stories:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
In the hot desert, the shimmering water on the road was actually a ____.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The thirsty traveler thought he saw a cool lake in the distance, but it was just a ____ caused by the intense desert heat.