mirage

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mi|rage /m'ɪrɑːʒ/ (mirages)
1 [N-COUNT]
A mirage is something which you see when it is extremely hot, for example in the desert, and which appears to be quite near but is actually a long way away or does not really exist.
It hovered before his eyes like the mirage of an oasis.
2 [N-COUNT] usu sing
If you describe something as a mirage, you mean that it is not real or true, although it may seem to be.
The girl was a mirage, cast up by his troubled mind...
= illusion

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