pie in the sky

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

pie in the sky

/ˈpaɪ ɪn ðə ˈskaɪ/ UK
/ˈpaɪ ɪn ðə ˈskaɪ/ US
/ˈpaɪ ən ðə ˈskaɪ/ US

Rhymes with -aɪ

Where it comes from

The phrase is originally from the song “The Preacher and the Slave” (1911) by Swedish-American labor activist and songwriter Joe Hill (1879–1915), which he wrote as a parody of the Salvation Army hymn “In the Sweet By-and-By” (published 1868). The song criticizes the Salvation Army for focusing on people’s salvation rather than on their material needs:

: You will eat, bye and bye,

: In that glorious land above the sky;

: Work and pray, live on hay,

: You’ll get pie in the sky when you die.

noun

idiomatic, uncountable A fanciful notion; an unrealistic or ludicrous concept; the illusory promise of a desired outcome that is unlikely to happen. Don't you think I have anything better to do than go scrambling around hundreds of square miles of the toughest wilderness in the state looking for pie in the sky?
Similar: castle in the air, eggs in moonshine, jam tomorrow, pipe dream, the cake is a lie

adjective more pie in the sky · most pie in the sky

alternative Alternative form of pie-in-the-sky After listening to descriptions of local grants between $500 and $50,000 (Montana got a total of $593,691 this year), he said the comparatively small contribution from the endowment could be replaced by a national organization that is privately run. His local critics questioned how that would work,

Translations

Every language

noun fanciful notion

한국어	그림의 떡 geurim-ui tteok
Русский	журавль в небе žuravlʹ v nebe, воздушный замок vozdušnyj zamok

Talk about this word

Cite this

MLA

"pie in the sky." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/pie%20in%20the%20sky. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

pie in the sky. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/pie%20in%20the%20sky

Chicago

"pie in the sky." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/pie%20in%20the%20sky.

BibTeX

@misc{pie_in_the_sky_2026,
  title = {pie in the sky},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/pie%20in%20the%20sky},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}