# will o' the wisp

Pronunciation: say "wil-uh-thuh-WISP" /ˌwɪləðəˈwɪsp/

## Noun

1. Any of various pale, flickering lights seen above marshy ground around the world, variously explained in folklore and attributed by science to several possible causes, including bioluminescence and chemiluminescence.
   - Simple: A pale, flickering light seen over wet, swampy ground in many places, explained differently by old stories and by science.
   - _From the farmhouse window they watched a will o' the wisp flicker over the marshland and then vanish._
   - _No single theory accounts for every will o' the wisp, since the lights seen over different marshes may have different causes._
2. A goal based on delusion, or otherwise impossible to achieve, that someone feels compelled to pursue.
   - Simple: A goal that is not real or can never be reached, but that you feel you must keep chasing.
   - _Investors began to suspect that the promised high-speed rail line was a will o' the wisp, always ten years from being finished._
   - _She spent her twenties chasing the will o' the wisp of a flawless first novel, rewriting the opening chapter again and again._

## Other meanings

- (noun) In British folklore, a flickering light or lantern, especially over bogs, swamps or marshes, held by a supernatural creature that uses it to lure travelers to their deaths at night.

## Origin

Formed from Will (a male given name) + of + the + wisp, in the sense of a bundle of straw or hay used as a torch.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/will-o--the-wisp (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).