- pie in the sky
- pie in the sky1. Fig. a future reward after death, considered as a replacement for a reward not received on earth. •
Don't hold out for pie in the sky. Get realistic.
•If he didn't hope for some heavenly pie in the sky, he would probably be a real crook.
2. Fig. having to do with a hope for a special reward. (This is hyphenated before a nominal.) •Get rid of your pie-in-the-sky ideas!
•What these pie-in-the-sky people really want is money.
* * *{n. phr.}, {informal} An unrealistic wish or hope. * /Our trip to Hawaii is still only a pie in the sky./ Compare: PIPE DREAM.
Dictionary of American idioms. 2013.