Idiom
ivory tower
Meaning
A sheltered, overly-academic existence or perspective, implying a disconnection or lack of awareness of reality or practical considerations.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“He lives in an ivory tower and ignores real problems.”
“The professor's ideas sounded brilliant, but his colleagues felt he was stuck in an ivory tower, far from the needs of actual students.”
“The city planners need to leave their ivory tower and talk to the residents who actually use the broken public transport system every day.”
“By remaining within the safety of his ivory tower, the philosopher failed to grasp the urgent economic struggles facing the citizens outside his university walls.”
Examples
simple
“He lives in an ivory tower and ignores real problems.”
contextual
“The professor's ideas sounded brilliant, but his colleagues felt he was stuck in an ivory tower, far from the needs of actual students.”
“The city planners need to leave their ivory tower and talk to the residents who actually use the broken public transport system every day.”
complex
“By remaining within the safety of his ivory tower, the philosopher failed to grasp the urgent economic struggles facing the citizens outside his university walls.”
Origin
Calque of French tour d'ivoire, based on a biblical phrase, coined by Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve to compare the poet Alfred de Vigny (more isolated) with Victor Hugo (more socially engaged). First attested in English in a translation of Laughter by French philosopher Henri Bergson (1911). The term was popularized in The Ivory Tower (1917) by Henry James, though used in different sense (millionaires, not professors).
Key words
Related idioms
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