Meanings
present singular third person builds castles in the air · participle present building castles in the air · participle past built castles in the air · past built castles in the air · archaic participle past poetic builded castles in the air · archaic past poetic builded castles in the air · alternative build air castles
- idiomatictransitiveTo have any desire, idea, or plan that is unlikely to be realized; to imagine visionary projects or schemes; to have an idle fancy or a pipe dream; to daydream.
Labor and you build castles in the air. Vote Conservative and you can live in them.
1962, David Frost, That Was the Week that Was2 more examples
Look you, Amanda, you may build castles in the air, "and fume, and fret, and grow thin and lean, and pale and ugly, if you please." But I tell you, no man worth having is true to his wife, or can be true to his wife, or ever was, or will be so.
1696, John Vanbrugh, “The Relapse; or, Virtue in Danger. […]”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), London: Printed for the proprietors, under the Direction of John Bell, […], published 1795, →OCLC, act III, scene ii, page 72If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.
1854 August 9, Henry D[avid] Thoreau, “Conclusion”, in Walden; or, Life in the Woods, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, →OCLC, page 346
Origin
The first term dates from the late 1500s. A variant, castles in Spain (or châteaux en Espagne), was recorded in the Roman de la Rose in the 13th century and translated into English around 1365.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan fer castells a l'aire
- fer castells a l'aireto have any desire, idea, or plan unlikely to be realized
Czech stavět si vzdušné zámky
- stavět si vzdušné zámkyto have any desire, idea, or plan unlikely to be realized
Danish bygge luftkasteller
- bygge luftkastellerto have any desire, idea, or plan unlikely to be realized
Dutch luchtkastelen bouwen
- luchtkastelen bouwento have any desire, idea, or plan unlikely to be realized
Esperanto konstrui kastelojn en aero
- konstrui kastelojn en aeroto have any desire, idea, or plan unlikely to be realized
Estonian õhulosse ehitama
- õhulosse ehitamato have any desire, idea, or plan unlikely to be realized
Finnish rakennella pilvilinnoja
- rakennella pilvilinnojato have any desire, idea, or plan unlikely to be realized
French bâtir des châteaux en Espagne, bâtir des plans sur la comète
- bâtir des châteaux en Espagneto have any desire, idea, or plan unlikely to be realized
- bâtir des plans sur la comèteto have any desire, idea, or plan unlikely to be realized
- tirer des plans sur la comèteto have any desire, idea, or plan unlikely to be realized
German Luftschlösser bauen, Schlösser in die Luft bauen
- Luftschlösser bauento have any desire, idea, or plan unlikely to be realized
- Schlösser in die Luft bauento have any desire, idea, or plan unlikely to be realized
Hebrew בנה מגדלים באוויר
- בנה מגדלים באוויר (baná migdalím ba'avír)to have any desire, idea, or plan unlikely to be realized
Hungarian légvárakat épít
- légvárakat építto have any desire, idea, or plan unlikely to be realized
Italian fare castelli in aria
- fare castelli in ariato have any desire, idea, or plan unlikely to be realized
Norwegian Bokmål bygge luftslott
- bygge luftslottto have any desire, idea, or plan unlikely to be realized
Polish budować zamki na lodzie
- budować zamki na lodzieto have any desire, idea, or plan unlikely to be realized
Portuguese fazer castelos no ar
- fazer castelos no arto have any desire, idea, or plan unlikely to be realized
Punjabi ਖਿਆਲੀ ਪੁਲਾਉ ਪਕਾਉਣਾ
- ਖਿਆਲੀ ਪੁਲਾਉ ਪਕਾਉਣਾ (khiālī pulāu pakāuṇā)to have any desire, idea, or plan unlikely to be realized
Russian стро́ить возду́шные за́мки
- стро́ить возду́шные за́мки (stróitʹ vozdúšnyje zámki)to have any desire, idea, or plan unlikely to be realized
Spanish hacer castillos en el aire, forjar castillos en el aire
- hacer castillos en el aireto have any desire, idea, or plan unlikely to be realized
- forjar castillos en el aireto have any desire, idea, or plan unlikely to be realized
- levantar castillos en el aireto have any desire, idea, or plan unlikely to be realized
- hacer castillos de naipesto have any desire, idea, or plan unlikely to be realized
Swedish bygga luftslott
- bygga luftslottto have any desire, idea, or plan unlikely to be realized
Cite this entry
build castles in the air. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/build%20castles%20in%20the%20air
“build castles in the air.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/build%20castles%20in%20the%20air. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “build castles in the air,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/build%20castles%20in%20the%20air.
Source: build castles in the air on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.