ivory tower

ivory tower
noun Etymology: translation of French tour d'ivoire Date: 1911 1. an impractical often escapist attitude marked by aloof lack of concern with or interest in practical matters or urgent problems 2. a secluded place that affords the means of treating practical issues with an impractical often escapist attitude; especially a place of learning • ivory-tower adjectiveivory-towerish adjective

New Collegiate Dictionary. 2001.

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  • ivory tower — as a symbol of artistic or intellectual aloofness, by 1889, from Fr. tour d ivorie, used in 1837 by critic Charles Augustin Sainte Beuve (1804 1869) with reference to the poet Alfred de Vigny, whom he accused of excessive aloofness. Et Vigny,… …   Etymology dictionary

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  • ivory tower — n a place or situation where you are separated from the difficulties of ordinary life and so are unable to understand them, used especially to describe a college or university ▪ an academic in an ivory tower …   Dictionary of contemporary English

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