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ivory tower

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noun

a place or situation remote from worldly or practical affairs: the university as an ivory tower.

an attitude of aloofness from or disdain or disregard for worldly or practical affairs: his ivory tower of complacency.

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Origin:
translation of French 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. 2012.
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Ivory tower is always a great word to know.

So is zedonk. Does it mean:

the offspring of a zebra and a donkey.

a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes.

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Collins

World English Dictionary

ivory tower (ˈtaʊə)

—n
	a. seclusion or remoteness of attitude regarding real problems, everyday life, etc
	b. (as modifier): ivory-tower aestheticism

ivory-'towered

—*adj*

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Slang Dictionary

ivory tower definition

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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American Heritage

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.

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Matching Quote

"The only refuge left to us was the poet's ivory tower, which we climbed, ever higher, to isolate ourselves from the mob."

-Gérard De Nerval

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