ignis fatuus
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It flashed through his mind that he had wasted two months pursuing an ignis fatuus, only to have nothing but bitterness at the end, when it might have been ——!
From Six Prize Hawaiian Stories of the Kilohana Art League by Armstrong, W. N.
Was this light of hope that gilded so beautifully the sad, dark hour of human woe, only a mocking ignis fatuus, so soon to go out in everlasting darkness?
From Nurse and Spy in the Union Army The Adventures and Experiences of a Woman in Hospitals, Camps, and Battle-Fields by Edmonds, S. Emma E.
The vain pomp and pageantries of courts and the splendour of fortune have ever been an ignis fatuus to seduce the people to their ruin.
From Secret History of the Court of England, from the Accession of George the Third to the Death of George the Fourth, Volume I (of 2) Including, Among Other Important Matters, Full Particulars of the Mysterious Death of the Princess Charlotte by Hamilton, Lady Anne
The Friar’s lantern is the ignis fatuus, or will-o’-the-wisp, fabled to lead men into dangerous marshes.
From Minor Poems by Milton by Milton, John
After all, am I the victim of an illusion—following but an ignis fatuus kindled by my own vanity?”
From The White Gauntlet by Reid, Mayne
