magical thinking

noun

1. a conviction that thinking is equivalent to doing, occurring in dreams, the thought patterns of children, and some types of mental disorders, especially obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Example Sentences

Didion would go on to write “The White Album,” her classic 1979 collection of essays, and move to New York before publishing two memoirs — 2005’s “The Year of Magical Thinking” and 2011’s “Blue Nights” — that became mammoth bestsellers.

From Los Angeles Times

That could be magical thinking.

From Salon

“I don’t think there’s magical thinking that’s going to get us out of it.”

From Los Angeles Times

Although I had more options in my closet, I cycled through only two pairs of jeans for all of fifth grade because I had doused them in magical thinking, believed they were the only pants that could mask the thighs I now sported.

From Los Angeles Times

But when a reporter for the conservative Sinclair Broadcast Group asked how he would make prices drop, Trump’s response was an untethered excursion into magical thinking.

From Los Angeles Times