ivory tower
Use Ivory tower in a sentenceivory tower
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:
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)
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. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
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Link To ivory tower
00:10
Ivory tower
is always a great word to know.
So is ort. Does it mean:
| a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal. |
| a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes. |
Collins
World English Dictionary
ivory tower (ˈtaʊə) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —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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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
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Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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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.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
Cite This Source
Example sentences
Living on the bridge between the ivory tower and where the rubber hits the road for policy makers, we're constantly learning.
Network with people who are happily ensconced in careers outside the ivory tower.
But they have now been around for so long that they are also being discussed and dissected in the ivory tower.
Maybe he thinking he can get a government grant to study the aliens and they wouldn't possibly bomb his ivory tower.
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