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 is a nebulous, diaphanous, illusory being that vanishes- 18 - into nothing at the first attempt to grasp it; it is a mirage, an ignis fatuus that neither warms nor illuminates.
From God and the State by Bakunin, Mikhail Aleksandrovich
Nor he, nor any of the brave Plantagenets ever came to Ireland, for they were pursuing an ignis fatuus in France, instead of attending to their own business at home.
From My Lords of Strogue, Vol. I (of III) A Chronicle of Ireland, from the Convention to the Union by Wingfield, Lewis
A few nights afterwards it was there again, and must clearly have been some kind of ignis fatuus.
From Wild Life in a Southern County by Jefferies, Richard
Now, let the reader examine and study these definitions of Liberty by Paley, Montesquieu and Blackstone, and he will see that they are in pursuit of an ignis fatuus that eludes their grasp.
From Cannibals all! or, Slaves without masters by Fitzhugh, George
The terror would have been to think of him as an ignis fatuus, unconscious of himself, flitting hither and thither over the face of the Continent at large.
From The Tower of Oblivion by Onions, Oliver [pseud.]
