noun

• 1An optical illusion caused by atmospheric conditions, especially the appearance of a sheet of water in a desert or on a hot road caused by the refraction of light from the sky by heated air.

  ‘the surface of the road ahead rippled in the heat mirages’

  More example sentences

  • ‘The heat rippled watery mirages on the road, teasing my hot hand with illusory coolness.’
  • ‘Heading for the desert he attempts the Marathon des Sables, an exhausting and dangerous seven-day test of ability, to see what effect dry heat has on the weather, from mirages to the deadly desert sandstorm that is the haboob.’
  • ‘Due to the unpredictability of mirages, these lights can seem to move quickly through the sky and suddenly vanish.’
  • ‘Theo and the little girl were now little more than two indistinct specks shimmering in the heat haze, a mirage that was beginning to flicker and break up.’
  • ‘But like a sand-crusted desert crawler, forging his way towards a shimmering mirage of water, I found myself on the first day of my arrival scavenging for bagels.’
  • ‘They're so thirsty for it, they'll crawl through the desert toward a mirage, and when they discover there is no water, they'll drink the sand.’
  • ‘Malaysia's hot pursuit a fortnight ago appeared like a mirage in Bahrain's desert expanse.’
  • ‘But he said it was unclear whether the bulge indicated a jagged break in the wing or a mirage caused by atmospheric distortion.’
  • ‘On the other hand, flying insects can discriminate natural water surfaces from mirages or other ‘virtual’ surfaces using polarization vision.’
  • ‘Their eyes are blinded: they will not see that their visions are as baseless and disappointing as the mirage of the African desert.’
  • ‘In the heat of the day it spreads a mirage of water over the horizon.’
  • ‘After all, mirages were common in deserts like these.’
  • ‘We are like thirsty travellers in a desert chasing mirages.’
  • ‘Yes, people had mirages in the desert, but what she was describing was clearly no mirage.’
  • ‘Their painstaking work reveals what many astronomers suspected but, until now, could never prove: the redshift desert is a mirage.’
  • ‘Seeing nothing at all except the distant silver mirages and heat shimmers he once again eased his mount forward.’
  • ‘Across it, turrets of the small white mosque seemed as insubstantial as the wobbling outlines of a heat mirage.’
  • ‘A mirage is caused by a small refraction of light near a hot surface.’
  • ‘At first glance, the Salton Sea appears like a glistening mirage in the California desert - a shimmering landscape of reflected sky and sand.’
  • ‘In the heat mirage, it is hard to tell which cars are real and which are not, and the roadside wrecks, crushed flat like compacted drinks cans, are testimony to many a fatal illusion.’

  Synonyms

  optical illusion, hallucination, phantasmagoria, apparition, fantasy, chimera, trick, vision

  View synonyms

  1. 1.1Something that appears real or possible but is not in fact so.
     ‘the notion that the public is pro-business is a mirage’
     More example sentences

     • ‘Basic services have not been funded and the long promised legislation has proved to be a mirage.’
     • ‘The poor might have given him the edge this time, but how happy are they going to be when the promised economic sunshine proves to be a mirage?’
     • ‘Democratization in Afghanistan, he believes, is a mirage.’
     • ‘And I think there would be a mirage to believe that we are going to win this war with a swift action in Iraq.’
     • ‘Surely, there were signs of our men accomplishing it but that proved a mirage.’
     • ‘Ah, hope: it's the ultimate mirage in this Wild West town.’
     • ‘We were hoping that sanity will prevail upon New Delhi and Islamabad and they will take a decision on reopening of the road but it again proved a mirage.’
     • ‘Its a mirage, a figment of some businessman's dream or an economists momentary flash of desperation.’
     • ‘The notion that nations compete is a fallacy, as the errors lead to initiatives for exports or other mirages.’
     • ‘They are accountable for producing past profit reports that may have relied excessively on running down reserves to preserve a mirage of real growth.’
     • ‘Therefore, information technology does not appear as a mirage in Arab countries as it has moved smoothly into the lives and work of people just like other places in the world.’
     • ‘Staying in touch also helps you figure out whether he was the real deal or just a mirage.’
     • ‘As far as I was concerned, possibility was a mirage - and as cold as the distant northern lights.’
     • ‘Putting it briefly and bluntly: The trumpeted brisk rebound in U.S. business capital investment is another bullish mirage lacking any serious substance.’
     • ‘The fourth and most important negative point is that the trumpeted recovery in business fixed investment, in particular in high tech, is just another statistical mirage.’
     • ‘His hot start this year could be another mirage.’
     • ‘But pre-electoral promises are a mirage constructed to come to power and then the real agenda takes over.’
     • ‘In light of such obstacles, divergent national interests and division, real consensus was always a mirage and had been steadily weakening since 1991.’
     • ‘‘The meeting was full of people who were concerned about anti-social behaviour - either they are all seeing mirages or it is actual fact,’ he said.’
     • ‘Until this is agreed on, the concept of intermediate care will remain a mirage and its possibilities unknown.’