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ivory tower

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ivory tower

 
Use ivory tower in a Sentence
–noun
1. a place or situation remote from worldly or practical affairs: the university as an ivory tower.
2. an attitude of aloofness from or disdain or disregard for worldly or practical affairs: his ivory tower of complacency.
Origin:
trans. of F tour d'ivoire, phrase used by C.A. Sainte-Beuve in reference to the isolated life of the poet A. de Vigny (1837)

Related forms:
i⋅vo⋅ry-tow⋅ered, i⋅vo⋅ry-tow⋅er⋅ish, adjective
i⋅vo⋅ry-tow⋅er⋅ism, i⋅vo⋅rytow⋅er⋅ish⋅ness, noun
i⋅vo⋅ry-tow⋅er⋅ist, i⋅vo⋅ry-tow⋅er⋅ite, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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ivory tower  
n.  A place or attitude of retreat, especially preoccupation with lofty, remote, or intellectual considerations rather than practical everyday life.

[Translation of French tour d'ivoire : tour, tower + de, of + ivoire, ivory.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
ivory tower

  1. n.
    an imaginary location where aloof academics are said to reside and work. : Why don't you come out of your ivory tower and see what the world is really like?
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Idioms & Phrases

ivory tower

A place or attitude of retreat, remoteness from everyday affairs, as in What does the professor know about student life, living as he does in an ivory tower? This term is a translation of the French tour d'ivoire, which the critic Saint-Beuve used to describe the attitude of poet Alfred de Vigny in 1837. It is used most often in reference to intellectuals and artists who remain complacently aloof.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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